tutu

Borrowed from French tutu, from cucu (“bum, bottom”), playful reduplication of cul (“arse”).

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈtutu/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtuːtuː/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -uːtuː

tutu (plural tutus)

1. A ballet skirt made of layered stiff but light netting.

   The ballet dancer representing the swan wore a white tutu.

Borrowed from Māori tutu.

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): [ˈtʉːˌtʉː]

tutu (plural tutus)

1. (New Zealand) Any of certain members of genus Coriaria of shrubs and trees found in New Zealand, including Coriaria arborea and Coriaria pottsiana, used by the Maori to make a sweetener, but toxic when not properly prepared.

   Synonyms: toot plant, tupakihi

• tutin

From Māori tutū (“mischievous, disobedient”).

• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈtʊtʉː/

tutu (third-person singular simple present tutus, present participle tutuing, simple past and past participle tutued)

1. (New Zealand, childish) to fiddle or mess around with something.
   • 2016 July 14, “New Plymouth sign maker invests in enormous flatbed printer”, in Stuff‎^[1]:

     "There were seven dudes here for a week just showing me how to use it and I just wanted them to leave so I could start tutuing with it."

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

• IPA^(key): /tutu/ [t̪u.t̪u]
• Rhymes: -utu, -u
• Hyphenation: tu‧tu

tutu inan

1. pipe, tube

   Synonym: hodi

• “tutu”, in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia [Dictionary of the Basque Academy] (in Basque), Euskaltzaindia [Royal Academy of the Basque Language]
• “tutu”, in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia [General Basque Dictionary], Euskaltzaindia, 1987–2005

tutu

1. to shower

tutu

1. bird

• IPA^(key): [ˈtutu]

tutu

1. feminine accusative singular of tuten

From French tutu.

• IPA^(key): /ˈtutu/, [ˈt̪ut̪u]
• Rhymes: -utu
• Syllabification^(key): tu‧tu
• Hyphenation^(key): tu‧tu

tutu

1. tutu (garment)

• “tutu”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎^[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 1 July 2023

• IPA^(key): /ˈtutuˣ/, [ˈt̪ut̪u(ʔ)]
• Rhymes: -utu
• Syllabification^(key): tu‧tu
• Hyphenation^(key): tu‧tu

tutu

1. inflection of tutua:
   1. indicative present connegative
   2. second-person singular imperative present/present connegative

• tuut

Alteration of cucu, which is itself a reduplicated form of cul (“butt, bum, arse”).

• IPA^(key): /ty.ty/

tutu m (plural tutus)

1. tutu

• “tutu”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

• IPA^(key): /túː.tù/
  • (Standard Kano Hausa) IPA^(key): [túː.tɪ̀]

tūtù m (possessed form tūtùn)

1. (childish or humorous) poop

Originally child-speak.

• (Ala-Laukaa) IPA^(key): /ˈtutu/, [ˈtutuˑ]
• (Soikkola) IPA^(key): /ˈtutu/, [ˈtud̥uˑ]
• Rhymes: -utu
• Hyphenation: tu‧tu

tutu

1. (childish) synonym of kätyt

Declension of tutu (type 4/koivu, t- gradation, gemination)
	singular	plural
nominative	tutu	tuut
genitive	tuun	tuttuin, tutuloin
partitive	tuttua	tutuja, tutuloja
illative	tuttuu	tuttui, tutuloihe
inessive	tuus	tuuis, tutulois
elative	tuust	tuuist, tutuloist
allative	tuulle	tuuille, tutuloille
adessive	tuul	tuuil, tutuloil
ablative	tuult	tuuilt, tutuloilt
translative	tuuks	tuuiks, tutuloiks
essive	tutunna, tuttuun	tutuinna, tutuloinna, tuttuin, tutuloin
exessive1)	tutunt	tutuint, tutuloint
1) obsolete *) the accusative corresponds with either the genitive (sg) or nominative (pl) **) the comitative is formed by adding the suffix -ka? or -kä? to the genitive.

• Ruben E. Nirvi (1971), Inkeroismurteiden Sanakirja, Helsinki: Suomalais-Ugrilainen Seura, page 604

• tuto

Ultimately from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tuqu (“true; real”). Compare Tagalog totoo and Cebuano tuo (“to believe”).

• IPA^(key): /tʊˈtuʔ/ [tʊˈtʊʔ]
• Hyphenation: tu‧tu

tutû

1. truth

tutû

1. true; real; authentic; genuine

   Synonym: tune

2. sincere

   Synonyms: tapat, matapat

• Rhymes: -u

tutu m (plural tutus)

1. tutu (ballet skirt)
2. (slang) money
   • 1971, "Donald, Meu Sobrinho", O Pato Donald #1000 (English text: 1952, "The Hypno-Gun", Walt Disney's Comics #145)

     Tio Patinhas: Mas eu lhe emprestei um cruzado para comprar um livro! Lembra-se?
     Ademar: Sim, eu me lembro! Mas eu já li o livro! E não preciso mais pagar! […] Sim, você tem tutu de sobra! Não lhe fará falta êsse cruzeirinho.

     Uncle Scrooge: But I loaned you a dollar to buy a book! Don't you remember?
     Rockjaw: Sure I remember! But I've read the book! I don't need to pay you now! […] And, besides, you've got lots of money! You don't need the dollar!

• “tutu”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “tutu”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

tutu

1. burn

Borrowed from French tutu.

tutu n (plural tutuuri)

1. tutu

• xoto (Spruce's orthography)

tutu

1. water

• Matthias Urban, El vocabulario sechurano de Richard Spruce, in Lexis volume XXXIX (2) 2015, citing Baltasar Jaime Martínez Compañón

• t'tu, ttu, toetoe (superseded)

Probably from Kongo túutu, e-tutu ("bamboo, tube, pipe, flute").^[1]

• IPA^(key): /tːu/

tutu

1. horn (bone outgrowth on the head of some mammals)
   • 1874, Willem Boekhoudt, Uit mijn verleden. Bijdrage tot de kennis van Suriname [From my past. Contribution to the knowledge of Suriname]‎^[3], Winschoten: J.D. van der Veen, page 95:

     Gado sabi san a doe, a no gi hasi toetoe.

     [Gado sabi san a du, a no gi asi tutu.]

     God knew what he was doing, he didn't give horses horns.

2. horn (musical instrument)
   • 1968, R. Dobru, “A feti fu Gado Sabi [The war of Gado Sabi]”, in Moetete‎^[4], number 2, Paramaribo: Eldorado, page 4:

     A edeman foe den tin e tja wan toetoe nanga san a e gi order.

     [A edeman fu den tin e tya wan tutu nanga san a e gi order.]

     The squad leader carried a horn with which he gave orders.

   1. trumpet
      • 1936, Melville J. Herskovits, Frances S. Herskovits, Suriname folk-lore‎^[5], New York: Columbia University Press, page 345:

        Wą' mą' bɛn dɛ 'a bɛn dɛ̨ŋki a dɛ mɔro bɛtre lei̯ki ala tra mąn. A 'abi wąn tutu. Na ala dei̯ a dɛ bro na tutu, na tutu dɛ piki, ‘Mi na mą' mɔro ala mąn.’ Da' ɛ̨ŋ frō dɛ tai̯g' gi ɛm, taki, ‘Yu no mu' brō na tutu so.’

        [Wan man ben de. A ben denki a de moro betre leki ala tra man. A abi wan tutu. Na ala dei a e bro na tutu, na tutu e piki, 'Mi na man moro ala man'. Dan en frow e taigi gi en taki, 'Yu no mu bro na tutu so.']

        There was a man. He thought he was better than all other men. He had a trumpet. Every day he blew his trumpet, the trumpet intoned, 'I am the man surpassing all men'. Then his wife said to him, 'You shouldn't blow your trumpet like that.'

   2. trombone
   3. saxophone
3. horn (of a car)

   Synonym: tuter

• Aukan: tutú
• Saramaccan: tutú

• Wilner, John, editor (2003-2007), “tutu”, in Languages of Suriname, 5th edition, SIL International, Sranan-English Dictionary

tutu c

1. tutu

• IPA^(key): [ˈtu.tu]

tutu

1. (transitive) to pound
2. (transitive) to mash
3. (transitive) to punch (with one's fist)

• Rika Hayami-Allen (2001), A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh

tutu

1. (anatomy) breast

tutu

1. (anatomy) breast

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

tutu

1. (anatomy) pupil

• titù (Ekiti)
• tutùn (Eastern Akoko)

From a partial reduplication of tù (“to be cold”). Compare with Olukumi tutùn, Itsekiri tùn. Proposed to be derived from Proto-Yoruba *-tũ̀, ultimately from Proto-Edekiri *-tũ̀.

• IPA^(key): /tū.tù/

tutù or tútù

1. to be cold or cool

   Antonyms: gbóná, móoru

2. to be moist; to be wet

   Antonym: gbẹ

tútù

1. cold, cool, raw
2. wet, moist

• Akinkugbe explains that the form with a mid-tone "u" is said to represent a "verbal form," while the one with the high tone "ú" represent an adjectival form. Thus the noun forms with the prefix ò- are nominalized forms of the verb meaning or the adjectival meaning, but are used synonymously.

• òtútù (“coldness”); òtutù
• ẹ̀rọ amóhuntutù (“refrigerator”)

From Proto-Mixtec *tútù, from a Mixe-Zoquean language, from Proto-Mixe-Zoque *toto.

tutu

1. paper
2. document
3. book

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

tutu

1. (intransitive) whistle

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

tutu

1. together

• stutu

• Beaty de Farris, Kathryn; et al. (2012), Diccionario básico del mixteco de Yosondúa, Oaxaca (Serie de vocabularios y diccionarios indígenas “Mariano Silva y Aceves”; 46)‎^[6] (in Spanish), third edition, Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., pages 81–82