tot

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   informal: a very young child

   The playground has a separate area for toddlers and tots.

2. 2
   noun

   a small measure of an alcoholic drink, especially rum

   The sailor accepted a warming tot of rum.

3. 3
   verb

   to add numbers or amounts, especially in the phrase tot up

   She totted up the receipts at the end of the day.

4. 4
   noun

   in literary contractions, the written sequence to’t represents to it

   The annotated text expands to’t as to it.

The child sense is probably a Scots shortening related to totter or other nursery words for something small. The drink sense developed from the idea of a small amount. The verb may reflect Latin tot ("so much") in accounting. The contraction to’t is unrelated.

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