Tortoise Definition

tôrtĭs
tortoises
noun
A turtle, esp. one that lives on land, as any of a worldwide family (Testudinidae)
Webster's New World
One that moves slowly; a laggard.
American Heritage

Other Word Forms of Tortoise

Noun

Singular:
tortoise
Plural:
tortoises

Origin of Tortoise

  • Middle English tortuse, tortuce, tortuge, from Medieval Latin tortuca, possibly from Late Latin tartarÅ«cha, from Late Latin tartarÅ«chus (“of Tartarus"), from Ancient Greek ταρταροῦχος (tartarouchos, “from Tartaros, Tartarus, the land of the dead in ancient stories"), because it used to be thought that tortoises and turtles came from the underworld; or from Latin tortus (“twisted").

    From Wiktionary

  • Middle English tortuce turtle, tortoise probably partly from Anglo-Norman tortouse (variant of Old French tortue) and partly from Medieval Latin tortūca both ultimately from Vulgar Latin tartarūca feminine of *tartarūcus of Tartarus turtle1

    From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition

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