Wiktionary

tout

See also: toût

English

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WOTD – 22 January 2009

Etymology 1

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From a dialectal form of toot (“to stick out; project; peer out; peep”), itself from Middle English toten, totien, from Old English tōtian (“to peep out; look; pry; spectate”). Merged with Middle English touten (“to jut out, protrude, gaze upon, observe, peer”), from Old English *tūtian, related to Old English tȳtan (“to stand out, be conspicuous, shine”). Compare Icelandic túta (“a teat-like prominence”), tútna (“to be blown up”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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tout (plural touts)

  1. Someone advertising for customers in an aggressive way.
    Synonyms: barker, pitchman, (Australia) spruiker
    Be careful of the ticket touts outside the arena, they are famed for selling counterfeits.
    • 1886, Henry James, The Princess Casamassima, London: Macmillan and Co.:
      Paul Muniment looked at his young friend a moment. 'Do you want to know what he is? He's a tout.'
      'A tout? What do you mean?'
      'Well, a cat's-paw, if you like better.'
  2. A person, at a racecourse, who offers supposedly inside information on which horse is likely to win.
  3. (colloquial) An informer in the Irish Republican Army.
    • 2011, Hugh Jordan, Milestones in Murder: Defining Moments in Ulster's Terror War:
      The Derry Brigade of the IRA thought it had got rid of its informer problem when earlier that year it executed Paddy Flood as a tout, after holding him for six weeks.
  4. (colloquial, archaic) A spy for a smuggler, thief, or similar.
Derived terms
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Translations
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Verb

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tout (third-person singular simple present touts, present participle touting, simple past and past participle touted)

  1. (transitive) To flaunt, to publicize/publicise; to boast or brag; to promote.
    Mary has been touted as a potential successor to the current CEO.
    • 2016 January 25, “Why Arabs would regret a toothless Chinese dragon”, in The National, retrieved 25 January 2016:
      China has touted its policy of non-interference for decades.
    • 2012, Scott Tobias, “The Hunger Games”, in The A.V. Club:
      For the 75 years since a district rebellion was put down, The Games have existed as an assertion of the Capital’s power, a winner-take-all contest that touts heroism and sacrifice—participants are called “tributes”— while pitting the districts against each other.
    • 2018, James Lambert, “A multitude of ‘lishes’: The nomenclature of hybridity”, in English World-Wide‎[1], page 9:
      Newspaper articles also were generally positive in tone, although a tendency towards sensationalism means that the spread of hybrid forms is occasionally touted as the universal language of the future.
  2. (UK, slang, horse-racing, transitive) To spy out information about (a horse, a racing stable, etc.).
  3. (US, slang, horse-racing, transitive) To give a tip on (a racehorse) to a person, with the expectation of sharing in any winnings.
  4. (UK, slang, horse-racing, intransitive) To spy out the movements of racehorses at their trials, or to get by stealth or other improper means the secrets of the stable, for betting purposes.
  5. (US, slang, horse-racing, intransitive) To act as a tout; to give a tip on a racehorse.
  6. (intransitive) To look for, try to obtain; used with for.
    • March 1, 2016, Ben Judah on BBC Business Daily:
      To understand the new London, I lived it. I slept rough with Roma beggars and touted for work with Baltic laborers on the kerb.
  7. (obsolete) To look upon or watch.
Synonyms
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Translations
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Etymology 2

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Probably from French tout (“all”).

Noun

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tout

  1. (card games) In the game of solo, a proposal to win all eight tricks.
See also
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French

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Etymology

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Inherited from Middle French tout, from Old French tot, from Vulgar Latin tōttus, alteration (likely via expressive gemination) of Latin tōtus. Compare Catalan tot, Italian tutto, Portuguese todo, Romanian tot, Spanish todo.

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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tout m (feminine toute or tout, feminine plural toutes or tout)

  1. all
  2. totally; completely
  3. (tout + adjective + que + subjunctive clause) however; no matter how
    • 1886, Ernest Legouvé, Soixante ans de souvenirs:
      « Oh ! disait-il, il faut le reconnaître, tout romantique qu’il soit, il y a quelque chose dans ce Lamartine… »
      (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

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When modifying a feminine adjective, the form tout is used preceding a vowel or muted H, or otherwise changes to agree with the adjective. When modifying a verb, tout is invariant.

Derived terms

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Determiner

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tout (feminine toute, masculine plural tous, feminine plural toutes)

  1. all

Derived terms

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Noun

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tout m (plural touts)

  1. whole, entirety, total
    le tout ― everything, all of it

Derived terms

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Pronoun

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tout (plural tous)

  1. everything

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Haitian Creole

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Etymology

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From French tout (“all”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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tout

  1. all

Adverb

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tout

  1. all
  2. every

Middle French

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Etymology

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From Old French tot.

Adjective

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tout m (feminine singular toute, masculine plural tous, feminine plural toutes)

  1. all; all of
    toute la nuit
    all (of the) night

Adverb

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tout (feminine singular toute, masculine plural tous, feminine plural toutes)

  1. all (intensifier)
    • 1488, Jean Dupré, Lancelot du Lac, page 45:
      Et moult y avoit de gens tout autour pour regarder la iustice de la damoiselle
      And there were many people all around to watch the justice afforded to the lady
  2. completely; totally; entirely

Usage notes

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  • Like Modern French tout, when used as an intensifier it may inflect according to the gender and the number of what it is describing:
    Elle est toute morte ― she is completely dead
  • The uninflected form tout is always used for describing terms that don't inflect with gender, such as verbs, adverbs and prepositions:
    y avoit de gens tout autour ― there were people all around (tout qualifies the preposition autour)

Descendants

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  • French: tout

Norman

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Etymology

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From Old French tot, from Latin tōtus.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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tout m

  1. (Jersey, Guernsey) all

Derived terms

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Adverb

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tout

  1. (Jersey, Guernsey) all

Scots

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Verb

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tout

  1. (intransitive) To pout.

Noun

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tout (plural touts)

  1. A fit of sulking; a pet.
  2. A sudden illness.

Derived terms

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