tot
/tɑt/noun, verb
tot is spelled T-O-T: 3 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tot means “A small child” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tot is tots.
How many letters and syllables are in tot?
| Letters | 3: T-O-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.4 times per million words; the 23,536th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is tot?
Tot appears 1.4 times per million words in written English, the 23,536th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tot?
- UK /tɒt/
- US /tɑt/
Tot has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-tot.ogg, En-uk-tot.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with tot?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tot from its last stressed vowel (/ɑt/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: ott.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of tot
- tots plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- totting participle, present
- totted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tot mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A small child.
He learned to run when he was just a tot.
- 2
A small amount of liquor, (particularly) a small measure of rum.
- 3
Ellipsis of tater tot.
- 4
A small cup, usually made of tin.
- 5
UKobsoleteA foolish fellow.
- 6
A total, an addition of a long column of figures.
verb
- 1
To sum or total.
- 2
UKTo mark (a debt) with the word tot (Latin for "so much"), indicating that it was good or collectible for the amount specified.
a totted debt
noun
- 1
Initialism of tip of the tongue.
- 2
Initialism of turnover tax.
- 3
Initialism of transfer of technology.
- 4
Initialism of time over target
- 5
Initialism of time on target
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tot in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense small child:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | tout-petit |
| Spanish | infante |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).