The term is a generic one, not specific to Mormonism. According to the Wikipedia article[1] (albeit from an uncited source), there are references to it from th

The term is a generic one, not specific to Mormonism. According to the Wikipedia article[1] (albeit from an uncited source), there are references to it from the year 567. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tithe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tithe