teetotal

[ tee-toht-l, tee-toht-l ]

/ tiˈtoʊt l, ˈtiˌtoʊt l /

adjective

of or relating to, advocating, or pledged to total abstinence from intoxicating drink.

Informal. absolute; complete.

verb (used without object), tee·to·taled, tee·to·tal·ing or (especially British) tee·to·talled, tee·to·tal·ling.

Nearby words

teether, teething, teething ring, teething troubles, teethridge, teetotal, teetotaler, teetotalism, teetotum, teevee, tef

Origin of teetotal

reduplicated variant of total, coined by R. Turner, of Preston, England, in 1833, in a speech advocating total abstinence from alcoholic drinks

Related formstee·to·tal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for teetotal

Thenceforward for nearly a fortnight we saw nothing of our teetotal skipper.
The Log of a Sea-Waif|Frank T. Bullen
This reminds me, by-the-bye, of a teetotal turnkey at Coldbath Fields.
The Life Of George Cruikshank, Vol. II. (of II)|Blanchard Jerrold
They have to ponder over the teetotal vote, and they have to be very careful that they do not offend the licensed victuallers.
Wit and Wisdom of Lord Tredegar|Godfrey Charles Morgan
Now, I am not aware that teetotal apostles keep watch on your frontiers.
Freeland|Theodor Hertzka

But this surely would place America's teetotal navy in a very awkward predicament.
Punch, or the London Charivari, May 6, 1914|Various

British Dictionary definitions for teetotal

teetotal

/ (tiːˈtəʊtəl) /

adjective

of, relating to, or practising abstinence from alcoholic drink

dialect complete

Derived Formsteetotaller, nounteetotally, adverbteetotalism, noun

Word Origin for teetotal

C19: allegedly coined in 1833 by Richard Turner, English advocate of total abstinence from alcoholic liquors; probably from total, with emphatic reduplication

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for teetotal

teetotal

"pledged to total abstinence from intoxicating drink," 1834, possibly formed from total (adj.) 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."