sb. dial. [mod., app. repr. OE. téafor (téapor), glossing minium (red lead); in form = OHG. zoubur, Ger. zauber, ON. taufr, secret or magic writing, charm, talisman, sorcery: see Pauls, Grundrisz (ed. 2), 251.] A red coloring matter: see quots. Hence Tiver v. dial., trans. to mark or color with tiver.
[c. 975. Sax. Leechd., II. 56. Do æʓes ꝥ hwite to & meng swa þu dest teapor.
a. 1100. Ags. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 314/21. Minium, teafor. Ibid. (a. 1200), 541/11. Minium, teapor.
120025. Peri Didaxeon, in Sax. Leechd., III. 88. Eft nim ladsar ꝥ teafur & galpani oþres healfes paniȝe whit.]
1792. Gentl. Mag., LXII. 521. Strayed sheep tivered between the shoulders and across the loins.
a. 1825. Forby, Voc. E. Anglia, Tiver, a composition of which tar is the principal ingredient, to colour and preserve boards exposed to the air.
1863. Morton, Cycl. Agric., Gloss. (E.D.D.), Teen or Tiver (Suff.), red ochre for marking sheep.
1887. Kentish Gloss., Tiver.
1895. E. Anglia Gloss., s.v., The sheep are tivered across the loins.