French word

tontine

Pronunciation

IPA/tɔ̃tin/

Meaning

  • feminine nounrotating savings club

Example

Nous participons à une tontine entre collègues.

We are participating in a rotating savings club with our colleagues.

Illustration for tontine (rotating savings club)

More examples

Elle a commencé une tontine avec ses voisines pour acheter des cadeaux.

She started a rotating savings club with her neighbors to buy gifts.

Core concept

A shared pot moving from one participant to the next until everyone has received it.

Common phrases

  • participer à une tontine

    participate in a rotating savings club

  • cotiser à une tontine

    contribute to a rotating savings club

  • faire une tontine

    run a rotating savings club

Similar words

cagnotte: A common fund built from contributions at an event or gathering.
cotisation: A regular payment made to support a membership or service.
mutuelle: A mutual insurance organization funded by members' contributions.

Definition in French

Désigne un système informel dans lequel un groupe verse périodiquement une somme commune et chaque membre reçoit, à tour de rôle, la totalité de la cagnotte.

Word origin

The noun comes from the surname of Lorenzo de Tonti, whose seventeenth-century funding scheme gave tontine its French name.

Usage tips

  • Tontine is feminine, so standard phrasing uses une tontine and cette tontine.

Opposites

  • épargne individuelleindividual savingsnoun
  • compte d'épargnesavings accountnoun

Word lists with this word