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Definition of: tontine
(ton′tēn, ton·tēn′) noun
1. A form of collective life annuity, the individual profits of which increase as the number of survivors diminishes, the final survivor taking the whole.
2. The subscribers to such an annuity, collectively.
3. The share of a single subscriber. [<F, after Lorenzo Tonti, a Neapolitan banker who introduced it into France in about 1653]
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