tot en · NOUN · etymology 1
Pronunciation
Etymology
Borrowed from Scots tot, a shortened form of totum (“small child; tot”), of uncertain origin, perhaps shortened from totter (“to move in an unsteady way”), Compare tottle, also Old Norse tottr (“name of a dwarf”), Swedish tutte (“small child”), Danish tommeltot (“little child”).
Meanings
-
A small child.
He learned to run when he was just a tot.
Death conditioning begins at eighteen months. Every tot spends two mornings a week in a Hospital for the Dying. All the best toys are kept there, and they get chocolate cream on death days.
1932, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, London: Chatto & Windus:When I was but a tiny tot, I knocked the neighbors cold / For I became to walk when I was scarcely one year old
1907, Dave Reed Jr, “You'll Have to Get Off and Walk: Comic Novelty Song and Refrain”, M. Witmark & Sons:
-
A small amount of liquor, (particularly) a small measure of rum.
And tot of rum to send him warm to sleep.
1916, Siegfried Sassoon, The Working Party:Then I give them a tot of rum apiece, as they sit huddled in their blankets.
1897, Mary H. Kingsley, Travels in West Africa:
-
(abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis) Ellipsis of tater tot.
alt of tater tot
- (Barbados) A small cup, usually made of tin.
-
(UK, dialectal, obsolete) A foolish fellow.
Whoe answeared like a toute, or a maddman, as he was, that he was for the Kinge.
a. 1660, A Contemporary History Of Affairs In Ireland:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| tots | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
totsicle · prostitot · tot lot
Synonyms
nip (small amount of liquor) · toddler (young child)
Translations (28)
ru стопка (measure of spirits) · cs panák (measure of spirits) · bg малчуган (small child) · fi pikkulapsi (small child) · gl meniño (small child) · uk малю́к (small child) · sv totte (small child) · ca infant (small child) · ru малы́ш (small child) · gl parva (measure of spirits) · gl fechiña (measure of spirits) · fr tout-petit (small child) · uk маля́ (small child) · fi napero (small child) · cs škvrně (small child) · cs prcek (small child) · es infante (small child) · ca glop (measure of spirits) · it porzione (measure of spirits) · uk ча́рка (measure of spirits) · it bambino (small child) · pl brzdąc (small child) · pl berbeć (small child) · ga pataire (small child) · cs capart (small child) · it tot (measure of spirits) · cs frťan (measure of spirits) · fi tujaus (measure of spirits)