tortoise Hear it!

tortoise definition

tor·toise (tôrt′əs)

noun pl. tortoises -·toises or tortoise -·toise

a turtle, esp. one that lives on land, as any of a worldwide family (Testudinidae)

Etymology: ME tortuce < ML tortuca, altered (prob. by assoc. with L tortus, twisted) < VL *tartaruca < ? LGr tartarouchos, evil demon, orig., controlling Tartarus

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2005 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Comments
Improve this definition.
Do you have more to add? Share your linguistic knowledge or observation.
/Register to save your comments.