teetotal

English

Etymology

From total, the reduplicated tee acts as an intensifier, hence T-total. First use appears in 1834.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌtiːˈtəʊtəl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

teetotal (comparative more teetotal, superlative most teetotal)

1. Abstinent from alcohol; never drinking alcohol.

   Synonyms: on the wagon, straightedge

   • [1846], Religious Tract Society (Great Britain) (contributor), Jamaica, Enslaved and Free, →OCLC, page 88:

     There is absolutely a teetotal society here in the heart of the mountains, and some quarrelsome drunkards have become reformed!

   • 1960, J. E. Macdonnell, Don't Gimme the Ships, Melbourne: Horwitz Publications, page 65:

     ‘He’s teetotal. Don’t touch a drop.’

2. Opposed to the drinking of alcohol.
3. (dated, emphatic) Total.
   • 1858, Samuel Putnam Avery, The Harp of a Thousand Strings: Or, Laughter for a Lifetime, page 331:

     That's a teetotal lie.

Derived terms

• antiteetotal
• teetotaler
• teetotalism
• teetotalist
• teetotalistic
• teetotaller
• teetotalling
• teetotally
• unteetotal

Translations

abstinent from alcohol

• Bulgarian: въздържателен (văzdăržatelen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 滴酒不沾的

• Estonian: karske (et)
• Finnish: raivoraitis (fi)
• French: abstinent (fr)
• German: gänzlich enthaltsam, völlig abstinent
• Italian: astemio (it)
• Russian: тре́звенник (ru) m (trézvennik), тре́звенница (ru) f (trézvennica)
• Spanish: abstemio (es), temperante (es), aguado (es) m
• Welsh: llwyrymwrthodol, dirwestol

opposed to the drinking of alcohol

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: raivoraitis (fi)
• Spanish: abstemio (es)
• Welsh: llwyrymwrthodol, dirwestol

emphatic: total

• Bulgarian: пълен (bg) (pălen), абсолютен (bg) (absoljuten)
• Spanish: total (es)

See also

• abstain
• temperance

Noun

teetotal (plural teetotals)

1. One who abstains from drinking alcohol.

   Synonyms: teetotaler, pioneer

   Antonyms: alcoholic, dipsomaniac, drunkard

   • 2004, Andrea Levy, chapter 12, in Small Island‎^[1], London: Review, page 137:

     Hubert is trying to persuade James, a strict Presbyterian and teetotal, to come into the pub.

Verb

teetotal (third-person singular simple present teetotals, present participle (US) teetotaling or (UK) teetotalling, simple past and past participle (US) teetotaled or (UK) teetotalled)

1. (intransitive, uncommon) To advocate or practice the total abstinence from alcohol.

Translations

Translations

• Bulgarian: please add this translation if you can
• Danish: afholdsmand (da) c

Further reading

• teetotalism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia