Real Dictionary

tontine in American English
a fund to which a group of persons contribute, the benefits ultimately accruing to the last survivor or to those surviving after a specified time
noun: an annuity scheme in which subscribers share a common fund with the benefit of survivorship, the survivors' shares being increased as the subscribers die, until the whole goes to the last survivor

tontine in British English
noun: an annuity scheme by which several subscribers accumulate and invest a common fund out of which they receive an annuity that increases as subscribers die until the last survivor takes the whole

tontine in Insurance
noun: A tontine is a system of mutual life insurance where benefits are received by those participants who survive and keep their policies throughout a stated period.