tortoise
nounUS /ˈtɔɹ.təs/ · UK /ˈtɔː.təs/
Etymology From Middle English tortuse, tortuce, tortuge, from Medieval Latin tortuca, of uncertain origin. May be from Late Latin tartarūcha, from tartarūchus, from Ancient Greek ταρταροῦχος (tartaroûkhos, literally “holder of Tartarus [the land of the damned dead in Greek myths]”), because it used to be thought that tortoises and turtles came from the underworld and they were commonly paired with such infernal beasts; see Τάρταρος (Tártaros). Or, from Latin tortus (“twisted”). The French-looking Modern English spelling tortoise may be influenced by porpoise. Displaced native Old English byrdling.
Any of various land-dwelling reptiles, of the family Testudinidae (chiefly Canada, US) or the order Testudines (chiefly UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, India), whose body is enclosed in a shell (carapace plus plastron). The animal can withdraw its head and four legs partially into the shell, providing some protection from predators.
- The tortoise, with its characteristic protrusion of the head and neck, was a symbol sacred to Venus. It represented the procreative principle.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 235:
Synonym of cat (sense 11, a wheeled shelter)
- Derived terms
42 terms
African spurred tortoise, Aldabra giant tortoise, angonoka tortoise, Bolson tortoise, boofhead tortoise, Burmese star tortoise, desert tortoise, elephantine tortoise, Galápagos giant tortoise, Galapagos giant tortoise, Galápagos tortoise, Galapagos tortoise, geometric tortoise, giant tortoise, golden tortoise beetle, gopher tortoise, Hermann's tortoise, hinge-back tortoise, hinged-back tortoise, hinged tortoise, Horsfield's tortoise, Indian star tortoise, leopard tortoise, Madagascar tortoise, pancake tortoise, ploughshare tortoise, radiated tortoise, red-footed tortoise, red tortoise cake, Santa Fe Island tortoise, sculptured tortoise, sea tortoise, soft tortoise, tortoise beetle, tortoise core, tortoise-like, tortoiselike, tortoiseshell, tortoise-shell bamboo, tortoise shell bracket, tortoise shell, tortoise-shell