| Aptote | n. [ L. aptotum, Gr. &unr_; indeclinable; 'a priv. + &unr_; fallen, declined, &unr_; to fall. ] (Gram.) A noun which has no distinction of cases; an indeclinable noun. [ 1913 Webster ] | | Tote | n. [ L. totum, fr. totus all, whole. ] The entire body, or all; as, the whole tote. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ] | | Tote | v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Toted; p. pr. & vb. n. Toting. ] [ Said to be of African origin. ] To carry or bear; as, to tote a child over a stream; to tote a gun on one's hip; -- a colloquial word originating in the Southern States, and used there esp. by negroes, now common throughout the U. S. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ] | | Totear | v. t. [ Pref. to- + tear. ] To tear or rend in pieces. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ] | | Totem | n. [ Massachusetts Indian wutohtimoin that to which a person or place belongs. ] 1. A rude picture, as of a bird, beast, or the like, used by the North American Indians as a symbolic designation, as of a family or a clan; also, the object or animal itself, considered as an symbol of the family. [ 1913 Webster ] And they painted on the grave posts
Of the graves, yet unforgotten,
Each his own ancestral totem
Each the symbol of his household;
Figures of the bear and reindeer,
Of the turtle, crane, and beaver. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ] The totem, the clan deity, the beast or bird who in some supernatural way attends to the clan and watches over it. Bagehot. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Anything which serves as a venerated or mystic symbol or emblem. [ PJC ] | | Totemic | a. Of or pertaining to a totem, or totemism. [ 1913 Webster ] | | Totemism | n. 1. The system of distinguishing families, clans, etc., in a tribe by the totem. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Superstitious regard for a totem; the worship of any real or imaginary object; nature worship. Tylor. [ 1913 Webster ] | | Totemist | n. One belonging to a clan or tribe having a totem. -- To`tem*is"tic a. [1913 Webster] | | Totem post | { or }. A pole or pillar, carved and painted with a series of totemic symbols, set up before the house of certain Indian tribes of the northwest coast of North America, esp. Indians of the Koluschan stock. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ] Variants: Totem pole | | Toter | n. [ See Tote to carry. ] (Zool.) The stone roller. See Stone roller (a), under Stone. [ 1913 Webster ] |
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