- tot (n.)
- "little child," 1725, Scottish, of uncertain origin, perhaps a shortened form of totter, or related to Old Norse tottr, nickname of a dwarf (compare Swedish tutte "little child," Danish tommel-tot "little child," in which the first element means "thumb"). Tot-lot "play ground for young children" is recorded from 1944.
- tot (v.)
- "to reckon up," 1760, from tot (n.) "total of an addition," first recorded 1680s, short for total (n.). Hence, "to mark (an account or a name) with the word 'tot.'"