teetotum

American  

[tee-toh-tuhm] / tiˈtoʊ təm /

noun

1. any small top spun with the fingers.

2. a kind of die having four sides, each marked with a different initial letter, spun with the fingers in an old game of chance.

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teetotum British  

/ tiːˈtəʊtəm /

noun

1. a spinning top bearing letters of the alphabet on its four sides

2. such a top used as a die in gambling games

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Etymology

Origin of teetotum

1710–20; earlier T totum, alteration of totum name of toy (< Latin tōtum, neuter of tōtus all) by prefixing its initial letter, which appeared on one side of the toy

Example Sentences

Though no disturbance was reported last week at Brooklyn's Evergreen Cemetery, by rights Anthony Comstock should have been spinning like a teetotum in his grave.

From Time Magazine Archive

Quiet work this, none of your spasmodic Waltzes, kicking Polkas, and teetotum jigmarigs.

From A Trip to Cuba by Howe, Julia Ward

A teetotum is so called because it has, or once had, on one of its sides, a T standing for totum, all.

From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest

Bevan, striding forward, spun the housemaid round on her feet as if she were a teetotum.

From Miss Arnott's Marriage by Marsh, Richard

Then he saw the girl standing by the rail All this Rainey saw as he circled, while the mass whirled like a teetotum.

From A Man to His Mate by Mulford, Stockton