Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tot

/tɑt/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.16 in modern English

Syllables: tot
IPA: /tɑt/

3

Scrabble Score

3

Letters

1

Syllables

2

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

noun

A small amount of liquor, (particularly) a small measure of rum.

noun

Ellipsis of tater tot.

noun

A small cup, usually made of tin.

noun

A foolish fellow.

British usage; Obsolete

verb

To sum or total.

verb

To mark (a debt) with the word tot (Latin for "so much"), indicating that it was good or collectible for the amount specified.

British usage

noun

A total, an addition of a long column of figures.

Example Sentences

"He learned to run when he was just a tot."
"When I was but a tiny tot, I knocked the neighbors cold / For I became to walk when I was scarcely one year old"
"Death conditioning begins at eighteen months. Every tot spends two mornings a week in a Hospital for the Dying. All the best toys are kept there, and they get chocolate cream on death days."
"Then I give them a tot of rum apiece, as they sit huddled in their blankets."
"And tot of rum to send him warm to sleep."
"Whoe answeared like a toute, or a maddman, as he was, that he was for the Kinge."

Etymology

Borrowed from Scots tot, a shortened form of totum (“small child; tot”), of uncertain origin, perhaps shortened from totter (“to move in an unsteady way”), Compare tottle, also Old Norse tottr (“name of a dwarf”), Swedish tutte (“small child”), Danish tommeltot (“little child”).

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /tɑt/
British English: /tɒt/

Usage

Inflected Forms

tots (plural) tots (present, singular) totting (participle, present) totted (participle, past) totted (past)

Derived Forms

prostitot totsicle

Phrases

tot lot tot up

Frequently Paired Words

totting

Synonyms

toddler nip yearling bambino total tot up sum sum up summate tote up add add together

Homonyms

taught taut (cot–caught merger)

Rhymes With

not got lot shot hot bought caught spot scott forgot plot pot

Questions

How do you pronounce tot?: The recorded pronunciation is /tɑt/.
What does tot mean?: A small child.
Where does tot come from?: Borrowed from Scots tot, a shortened form of totum (“small child; tot”), of uncertain origin, perhaps shortened from totter (“to move in an unsteady way”), Compare tottle, also Old Norse tottr (“name of a dwarf”), Swedish tutte (“small child”), Danish tommeltot (“little child”).

How to pronounce tot

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “tot”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/tɑt/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “tot”.
Repeat and practice — Say “tot” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.