Meaning

noun a form of life insurance whereby on the death or default of a participant his share is distributed to the remaining members

noun an annuity scheme wherein participants share certain benefits and on the death of any participant his benefits are redistributed among the remaining participants; can run for a fixed period of time or

originFrom French tontine, named after Lorenzo de Tonti, who introduced the scheme into France in around 1653. Thus, from Tonti + -ine.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0