O.E. tid ”point or portion of time, due time,” from P.Gmc. *tidiz ”division of time” (cf. O.S. tid, Du. tijd, O.H.G. zit, Ger. Zeit ”time”), from PIE *di-ti- ”division, division of time,” suffixed form of root *da- ”to divide, cut up” (cf. Skt. dati “cuts, divides;” Gk. demos “people, land,” perhaps lit. “division of society;” daiesthai ”to divide;” O.Ir. dam “troop, company”). Meaning “rise and fall of the sea” (mid-14c.) is probably via notion of “fixed time,” specifically “time of high water;” either a native evolution or from M.L.G. getide (cf. also Du. tij, Ger. Gezeiten ”flood tide”). Old English seems to have had no specific word for this, using flod and ebba to refer to the rise and fall. O.E. heahtid ”high tide” meant “festival, high day.”
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