teetotal

teetotal
teetotal (v.) "pledged to total abstinence from intoxicating drink," 1834, possibly formed from TOTAL (Cf. total) with a reduplication of the initial T- for emphasis (T-totally "totally," though not in an abstinence sense, is recorded in Kentucky dialect from 1832 and is possibly older in Irish-English).
The use in temperance jargon was first noted September 1833 in a speech advocating total abstinence (from beer as well as wine and liquor) by Richard "Dicky" Turner, a working-man from Preston, England. Also said to have been introduced in 1827 in a New York temperance society which recorded a T after the signature of those who had pledged total abstinence, but contemporary evidence for this is wanting, and Webster (1847) calls teetotaler "a cant word formed in England."

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Teetotal — Tee*to tal, a. Entire; total. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • teetotal — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ choosing or characterized by abstinence from alcohol. DERIVATIVES teetotalism noun teetotaller noun. ORIGIN emphatic extension of TOTAL(Cf. ↑totally), apparently first used by Richard Turner, a worker from Preston, in a speech… …   English terms dictionary

  • teetotal — [tē′tōt′ l, tē′tōt΄ l] adj. [redupl., for emphasis, of initial letter of TOTAL] 1. Informal entire; complete 2. of or advocating teetotalism teetotaler n. teetotaller teetotally adv …   English World dictionary

  • teetotal — [[t]tiːto͟ʊt(ə)l, AM ti͟ːtoʊt(ə)l[/t]] ADJ: usu v link ADJ Someone who is teetotal does not drink alcohol. He will not be having a celebratory drink, as he is teetotal …   English dictionary

  • teetotal — adj. (esp. BrE) VERBS ▪ be ▪ become ▪ remain ADVERB ▪ strictly ▪ I m strictly teetotal …   Collocations dictionary

  • teetotal — tee|to|tal [ˌti:ˈtəutl US ˈtou ] adj someone who is teetotal never drinks alcohol >teetotalism n [U] …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • teetotal — tee|to|tal [ ti toutl ] adjective someone who is teetotal never drinks alcohol ╾ tee|to|tal|ism noun uncount …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • teetotal — [19] The adverb teetotally is first recorded in America in 1832 (James Hall, in his Legends of West Philadelphia, recorded a Kentucky backwoodsman as saying ‘These Mingoes … ought to be essentially, and particularly, and tee totally obflisticated …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • teetotal — UK [tiːˈtəʊt(ə)l] / US [tɪˈtoʊt(ə)l] adjective someone who is teetotal never drinks alcohol Derived word: teetotalism noun uncountable …   English dictionary

  • teetotal — [19] The adverb teetotally is first recorded in America in 1832 (James Hall, in his Legends of West Philadelphia, recorded a Kentucky backwoodsman as saying ‘These Mingoes … ought to be essentially, and particularly, and tee totally obflisticated …   Word origins

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