A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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About this entry:
First published 2001 (DOST Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1500-1512, 1638-1639
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Totum, n. [18th c. Eng. totum (1706).] A four-sided disk with a letter transcribed on each side: T totum, A aufer, D depone and N nihil. The disk was spun like a top, the player's fortune being decided by the letter uppermost when the disk fell. Also in fig. context alluding to the game of life. —1638 Adamson Muses Thr. I 5.
His cougs, his dishes, and his caps, A totum, and some bairnes taps 1639 Ritchie Ch. S. Baldred 63.
To Lord James to play at the totum with John Hamilton, 1 s. 4 d. —fig. c1500-c1512 Dunb. (OUP) 126/74.
He playis with totum and I with nychell
