tontine

American  

[ton-teen, ton-teen] / ˈtɒn tin, tɒnˈtin /

noun

1. an annuity scheme in which subscribers share a common fund with the benefit of survivorship, the survivors' shares being increased as the subscribers die, until the whole goes to the last survivor.

2. the annuity shared.

3. the share of each subscriber.

4. the number of subscribers.

5. any of various forms of life insurance in which the chief beneficiaries are those whose policies are in force at the end of a specified period tontine period.

---

tontine British  

/ ˈtɒntiːn, tɒnˈtiːn /

noun

1. 1. an annuity scheme by which several subscribers accumulate and invest a common fund out of which they receive an annuity that increases as subscribers die until the last survivor takes the whole

   2. the subscribers to such a scheme collectively

   3. the share of each subscriber

   4. the common fund accumulated

   5. ( as modifier )

      a tontine fund

2. a system of mutual life assurance by which benefits are received by those participants who survive and maintain their policies throughout a stipulated period (the tontine period )

---

Etymology

Origin of tontine

1755–65; < French; named after Lorenzo Tonti, Neapolitan banker who started the scheme in France about 1653. See -ine ¹

Example Sentences

The practice carries many names worldwide and among American immigrant communities, including tanda, sou-sou or tontine.

From Seattle Times • Jun. 22, 2022

She also hears from Sabine and the other hairdressers about their own tontine and its central role in their professional and domestic lives.

From The New Yorker • Oct. 16, 2019

Getting creative: It goes by different names in every immigrant community — the keh in Koreatown, the hui in Chinatown, the tontine in Cambodia Town.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 18, 2019

People have booked their tables here months in advance, entering via some kind of lottery or elaborate tontine, and here you are with this verified stranger quietly picking at your food.

From The Guardian • Jul. 27, 2017

He had never really expected the tontine; he had never even very definitely hoped to recover his seven thousand eight hundred pounds; he had been hurried into the whole thing by Michael’s obvious dishonesty.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 7 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis