Tartar

See also: tartar, tàrtar, and tårtar

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɑː(ɹ)tə(ɹ)/

Etymology 1

From Old French Tartaire, from Medieval Latin Tartarus (“Tartar, Mongol”), from Old Turkic [script needed] (Tatar), spelling influenced by Latin Tartarus (“Hell (in Greek mythology)”), from Ancient Greek Τάρταρος (Tártaros).

Noun

Tartar (plural Tartars)

1. Alternative spelling of Tatar
2. A member of the various tribes and their descendants of Tartary, such as Turks, Mongols and Manchus.
   • 1871, Marco Polo, Henry Yule (translator), The Travels of Marco Polo, book 1, chapter 13:

     Persia is a great country, which was in old times very illustrious and powerful; but now the Tartars have wasted and destroyed it.

3. (figuratively, dated) A person of a keen, irritable temper.
4. (figuratively) A rough or violent event.
   • 2003, Erik Larson, “Alone”, in The Devil in the White City, Vintage Books, page 106:

     I haven't escaped sickness all my life to get off easily now. […] I knew when my turn came, it would be a Tartar.

Adjective

Tartar (comparative more Tartar, superlative most Tartar)

1. Of or relating to the people or culture of Tartars.

   Tartar customs

Derived terms

• Tartar maple (Acer tataricum)

Etymology 2

From Armenian Թարթառ (Tʿartʿaṙ).

Proper noun

Tartar

1. One of the tributary rivers of the Kura, flowing through Artsakh and Azerbaijan
2. A town in Azerbaijan located on this river

Translations

river

• Armenian: Թարթառ (hy) (Tʿartʿaṙ)
• Azerbaijani: Tərtərçay

• Russian: Терте́р (ru) (Tertér)

town

• Armenian: Թարթառ (hy) (Tʿartʿaṙ)
• Azerbaijani: Tərtər (az)

• Russian: Терте́р (ru) (Tertér)

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Middle French

Etymology

Old French Tartar, from Medieval Latin Tartarus, alteration of Tatar, from a Turkic name. Influenced by Tartarus (“primeval god, underworld”).

Noun

Tartar m (plural Tartars)

1. Tartar (member of various Turkic tribes)

Descendants

• French: Tartare

References

• Tartar on Dictionnaire du Moyen Français (1330–1500) (in French)