Latin, "as a whole, wholly, completely, utterly, entirely," from toto, ablative of totus "whole, entire" (see total (adj.)); "always or nearly always with verbs of negative sense" [Fowler].
Entries linking to in toto
total adj.
late 14c., from Old French total (14c.), from Medieval Latin totalis "entire, total" (as in summa totalis "sum total"), from Latin totus "all, all at once, the whole, entire, altogether," a word of unknown origin. Total war is attested from 1937 (William Shirer), in reference to a concept developed in Germany.