East Ind. Also teel, teal. [a. Hindi til:—Skr. tilá.] The Indian name of the plant Sesamum indicum; chiefly attrib. or in comb., as til seed; til oil, til-seed oil, the oil obtained by bruising the seeds. Black til = RAMTIL, Guizotia oleifera (formerly called Verbesina sativa).
1840. Penny Cycl., XVI. 417/1. India, whence … sesamum or til seed is … largely imported, as well as from Egypt.
1845. Stocqueler, Handbk. Brit. India (1854), 514. It is … inferior … to the oil of til (sesamum).
1849. Balfour, Man. Bot., § 951. Teel seeds, the produce of Sesamum orientale, supply a bland oil.
c. 1865. Letheby, in Circ. Sc., I. 101/2. Sessama, gingilie, or teal oil.
a. 1875. Table Customs-Duties British India (Yule). Oils, Jinjili or Til.
1905. Statesman, 23 Aug., 5/4. The Sesamum (Til or Jinjili) crop of the season.
