AskOxford: Word of the Day

Word of the Day from AskOxford: www.askoxford.com teetotum • noun a small spinning top spun with the fingers, especially one with four sides lettered to determine whether the spinner has won or lost. — origin early 18th cent. (as T totum): from T (representing totum, inscribed on the side of the toy) + Latin totum ‘the whole’ (stake). The letters on the sides (representing Latin words) were T (= totum), A (= auferre ‘take away’), D (= deponere ‘put down’), and N (= nihil ‘nothing’). Pronunciation available online: www.askoxford.com Source: Oxford Dictionary of English www.oup.com/uk/isbn/9780198610571 Useful links from around OUP Find out about OUP's Online Products: www.oup.com/online Sign up for Words of the Day in French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, or Chinese at www.oxfordlanguagedictionaries.com - now with audio! OUP Winter Sale Up to 75% off hundreds of titles! To start browsing, follow the link below: http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/category/sale.do We hope you have enjoyed your word of the day. However, if you wish to be removed from the mailing list please visit: www.askoxford.com/contactus/email Copyright © Oxford University Press 2010

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