Wiktionary

teetotal

English

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Etymology

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From total,[1] the reduplicated tee acts as an intensifier, hence T-total. First use appears around the late 17th century. See cite below.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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teetotal (comparative more teetotal, superlative most teetotal)

  1. Abstinent from alcohol; never drinking alcohol.
    Synonyms: on the wagon, straightedge
    • 1799, Religious Tract Society (Great Britain) (contributor), Jamaica, Enslaved and Free, page 88:
      There is absolutely a teetotal society here in the heart of the mountains, and some quarrelsome drunkards have become reformed!
  2. Opposed to the drinking of alcohol.
  3. (dated, emphatic) Total.
    • 1858, Samuel Putnam Avery, The Harp of a Thousand Strings: Or, Laughter for a Lifetime, page 331:
      That's a teetotal lie.

Derived terms

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terms derived from teetotal

Translations

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See also

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Noun

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teetotal (plural teetotals)

  1. One who abstains from drinking alcohol.
    Synonyms: teetotaler, pioneer
    Antonyms: alcoholic, dipsomaniac, drunkard
    • 2004, Andrea Levy, chapter 12, in Small Island‎[1], London: Review, page 137:
      Hubert is trying to persuade James, a strict Presbyterian and teetotal, to come into the pub.

Verb

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teetotal (third-person singular simple present teetotals, present participle teetotaling, simple past and past participle teetotaled)

  1. (intransitive, uncommon) To advocate or practice the total abstinence from alcohol.

Translations

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Translations

References

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  1. ^ Teetotalism#Etymology

Further reading

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