27 April 2018
tontine
[ton-teen, ton-teen]
noun
1. an annuity scheme in which subscribers share a common fund with the benefit of survivorship, the survivors’ shares being increased as the subscribers die, until the whole goes to the last survivor.
2. the annuity shared.
3. the share of each subscriber.
4. the number of subscribers.
5. any of various forms of life insurance in which the chief beneficiaries are those whose policies are in force at the end of a specified period (tontine period)
Origin of tontine
French
1755-1765; < French; named after Lorenzo Tonti, Neapolitan banker who started the scheme in France about 1653. See -ine1
Dictionary.com
Examples from the Web for tontine
Historical Examples
When it was discovered that Loka was nowhere in the immediate vicinity, tontine was furious.
Bayou Folk
Kate Chopin
The suspense over, tontine began to cry; that followed naturally, of course.
Bayou Folk
Kate Chopin
They were to shut the gates of the tontine, and barricade them with the coaches.
The Chronicles of Crime or The New Newgate Calendar. v. 2/2
Camden Pelham
Anagram
eon tint
Today’s quote
Anyone who steps back for a minute and observes our modern digital world might conclude that we have destroyed our privacy in exchange for convenience and false security.
– John Twelve Hawks
On this day
27 April 1904 – The Australian Labor Party wins the federal election, making Chris Watson Australia’s third prime minister. The ALP was the first such labour party in the world to win a national election.
27 April 1950 – apartheid formally commences in South Africa with the implementation of the Group Areas Act that segrated races.
27 April 1951 – birth of Paul Daniel ‘Ace’ Frehley, former lead guitarist with Kiss. Frehley’s character with the band was the ‘Spaceman’. He has since launched a solo career and formed a band called Frehley’s Comet.
27 April 1953 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs Executive Order 10450 ‘Hiring and Firing Rules for Government Employment’. The order declared homosexuality, communism and moral perversion to be national security threats and grounds for sacking a government employee or not hiring an applicant.
27 April 1994 – South Africa’s first democratic election in which citizens of all races could vote. The interim constitution is enacted. The African National Congress won the election with 62% of the vote, bringing Nelson Mandela to power. 27 April is celebrated as Freedom Day in South Africa.