TEE-TOTUM
\tˈiːtˈɒtəm], \tˈiːtˈɒtəm], \t_ˈiː_t_ˈɒ_t_ə_m]\
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A small foursided toy of the top kind, used by children in a game of chance. The four sides exhibit respectively the letters A, T, N, D. The toy is set spinning, and wins and losses are determined according to the letter that turns up when the tee-totum has ceased whirling: thus A (Latin aufer, take away) indicates that the player who has last spun is entitled to take one from the stakes; D (depone, put down), a forfeiture or laying down of a stake; N (nihil, nothing), neither loss nor gain; T (totum, the whole), a title to the whole of the stakes. "He rolled him about, with a hand on each of his shoulders, until the staggerings of the gentleman … were like those of a tee-totum nearly spent."-Dickens.
By Daniel Lyons