a. a member of a Mongoloid people who under Genghis Khan established a vast and powerful state in central Asia from the 13th century until conquered by Russia in 1552
b. a descendant of this people, now scattered throughout Russia but living chiefly in the Tatar Republic
2.
any of the languages spoken by the present-day Tatars, belonging to various branches of the Turkic family of languages, esp Kazan Tatar
—adj
3.
of, relating to, or characteristic of the Tatars
[C14: from Old French Tartare, from Medieval Latin Tartarus (associated with Latin Tartarus the underworld), from Persian Tātār]
TartarorTartar
—n
—adj
[C14: from Old French Tartare, from Medieval Latin Tartarus (associated with Latin Tartarus the underworld), from Persian Tātār]