/ · 1894 Brewer’s · T · Tontine
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A legacy left among several persons in such a way that as anyone dies his share goes to the survivors, till the last survivor inherits all. So named from Lorenzo Tonti, a Neapolitan, who introduced the system into France in 1653.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.