It became popular as part of the temperance movement in the early 19th century in Great Britain and North America. Unlike temperance advocates, who promoted moderation in alcohol consumption or abstention solely from hard liquor (distilled spirits), people who practice teetotalism, known as teetotalers, abstain from all alcohol, including beer and wine. From the early days of the mass temperance movement, total abstinence from alcohol was promoted by some advocates, such as Presbyterian clergyman Lyman Beecher, who published Six Sermons on the Nature, Occasions, Signs, Evils, and Remedy of Intemperance in 1827.

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The society was dedicated to promoting a life of sobriety, but Turner believed they didn’t go far enough. Whereas many temperance groups lobbied for prohibition, the Washington Temperance Society, whose members were known as the Washingtonians, emphasized individual reform over societal reform. The fellowship group for reformed alcoholics was founded in 1840 in Baltimore, Maryland, by six men seeking to help one another and others to maintain their sobriety. They recruited other people in their community, even non-alcoholics, and held regular meetings in which they shared their experiences with drinking and sobriety. Over time, the Washingtonians attracted as many as 600,000 members, with chapters throughout the United States.

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• The Pioneers wore a religious emblem to signify their abstinence and recited a prayer twice daily that asked for “the conversion of excessive drinkers.” Whereas Mathew’s group eventually dwindled out, the Pioneers remain active in Ireland and North America, although with much diminished numbers.
• Studies in the late 2010s indicated a decline in youth drinking in Western countries, with more than one-fourth of English youth in their mid-teens to mid-20s and nearly three-tenths of college-age Americans claiming total abstinence.
• Women formed their own Washingtonian chapters, Martha Washington societies, and called themselves “Marthas.” By the late 1840s, most Washingtonian chapters had stopped meeting owing to declining membership.
• We sent over the old ardent spirit pledge; but after all, it did not touch the English beer, and good old brown stout, wine, nor the delicate cordials for the ladies.
• While you’re at it, raise another glass in honor of Richard Turner, whose stutter led to the creation of a term that will forever define those who choose to abstain from the devil’s nectar.

The word Teetotal (like Whig and Tory) has now become part of the English language, and is a familiar term all over the world. This is a list of notable figures who practiced teetotalism and were public advocates for temperance, teetotalism, or both. To be included in this list, individuals must be well-known for their abstention from alcohol, their advocacy efforts, or both.Individuals whose abstention from alcohol is not a defining characteristic or feature of their notability are intentionally excluded. Some common reasons for choosing teetotalism are psychological, religious, health,14 medical, philosophical, social, political, past alcoholism, or simply preference.

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All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. It is therefore likely that Richard Turner only used a word already colloquially current in the general sense of absolute, complete.

Derived terms

When at drinking establishments, teetotallers tend to consume non-alcoholic beverages such as water, juice, tea, coffee, non-alcoholic soft drinks, virgin drinks, mocktails, and alcohol-free beer. Turner, who was apparently known for his stutter, proclaimed, “I’ll be reet down out-and-out t-t-total for ever and ever.” In this exhilarating story, Turner was really just repeating the ‘t’ in “total,” but the term “teetotal” stuck, forever branding those who abstain from alcohol with a reminder of this man’s verbal quirk. We sent over the old ardent spirit pledge; but after all, it did not touch the English beer, and good old brown stout, wine, nor the delicate cordials for the ladies. All these were untouched, and the graves of the drunkards were filling up as fast as ever; and those they had drawn a little away from the gin palaces, they soon found were drunkards still—for such found they could keep the old pledge, and go to bed drunk every night. So they adopted what they called the ‘te-total’ pledge—(though I don’t like the name.) They sent that back again to us; and it was really gratifying to them to find that there was a Total Abstinence Society in America.

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Notably, they welcomed many groups that other temperance societies excluded, define teetotal including Roman Catholics and Black Americans. Women formed their own Washingtonian chapters, Martha Washington societies, and called themselves “Marthas.” By the late 1840s, most Washingtonian chapters had stopped meeting owing to declining membership. Teetotalers in the 19th century who belonged to temperance societies typically signed a pledge promising to abstain from alcohol.

• We sent over the old ardent spirit pledge; but after all, it did not touch the English beer, and good old brown stout, wine, nor the delicate cordials for the ladies.
• Women formed their own Washingtonian chapters, Martha Washington societies, and called themselves “Marthas.” By the late 1840s, most Washingtonian chapters had stopped meeting owing to declining membership.
• This is a list of notable figures who practiced teetotalism and were public advocates for temperance, teetotalism, or both.
• The Pioneers wore a religious emblem to signify their abstinence and recited a prayer twice daily that asked for “the conversion of excessive drinkers.” Whereas Mathew’s group eventually dwindled out, the Pioneers remain active in Ireland and North America, although with much diminished numbers.
• This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.
• Studies in the late 2010s indicated a decline in youth drinking in Western countries, with more than one-fourth of English youth in their mid-teens to mid-20s and nearly three-tenths of college-age Americans claiming total abstinence.
• While you’re at it, raise another glass in honor of Richard Turner, whose stutter led to the creation of a term that will forever define those who choose to abstain from the devil’s nectar.

word histories

Although the temperance movement died out in the United States in the early 20th century with the failure of Prohibition, alcohol abstinence was the foundation for a new movement focused on recovery from addiction. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), founded in 1935 in Akron, Ohio, developed as a fellowship group for alcoholics seeking recovery through total abstinence. The basis of AA was the Twelve Steps program, which outlines the group’s principles and methods for recovery.