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 in 1834.[2][3]

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
    • [1846], Religious Tract Society (Great Britain) (contributor), Jamaica, Enslaved and Free, →OCLC, 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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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 (US) teetotaling or (UK) teetotalling, simple past and past participle (US) teetotaled or (UK) teetotalled)

  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 on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
  2. ^ “teetotal, adj. and n.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
  3. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “teetotal (adj.)”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Further reading

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