corrigendum

Pronounced: core-uh-JEN-duhm, noun

Notes: Not a word knew, but I have run across one (you may have, too)

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Yesterday’s word

The word tontine is “a form of investment in which participants pool their money into a common fund and receive an annuity. Each person’s share increases as members die until the last survivor takes the whole.

First usage

Our word came into English in the mid-1700s

Background / Comments

As I noted yesterday, I didn’t recognize the word at first, but after reading the definition, I’m pretty sure that I’ve read the word used in a mystery story (I think it was a story by Agatha Chrisite). Tontines were eventually made illegal, as there would be a temptation to speed the death of the other owners. Our word came from the French word tontine, which came from the name of the person (Lorenzo Tonti, a banker from Naples) who started the scheme in France.