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terrapin - 4 dictionary results

ter⋅ra⋅pin

  [ter-uh-pin]
Use terrapin in a Sentence
–noun
1. any of several edible North American turtles of the family Emydidae, inhabiting fresh or brackish waters, esp. the diamondback terrapin: some are threatened or endangered.
2. any of various similar turtles.
Origin:
1605–15; earlier torope (< Virginia Algonquian < Eastern Algonquian *to⋅rəpe⋅w variety of turtle > Munsee Delaware tó⋅lpe⋅w) + -in, of uncert. orig.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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ter·ra·pin   (těr'ə-pĭn)   
n.  Any of various North American aquatic turtles of the family Emydiolae, especially the genus Malaclemys, which includes the diamondback terrapin.

[Alteration of torope, from Virginia Algonquian.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Terrapin

Ter"ra*pin\, n. [Probably of American Indian origin.] (Zo["o]l.) Any one of numerous species of tortoises living in fresh and brackish waters. Many of them are valued for food. [Written also terapin, terrapen, terrapene, and turapen.]

Note: The yellow-bellied terrapin (Pseudemys acebra) of the Southern United States, the red-bellied terrapin (Pseudemys rugosa), native of the tributaries Chesapeake Bay (called also potter, slider, and redfender), and the diamond-back or salt-marsh terrapin (Malaclemmys palustris), are the most important American species. The diamond-back terrapin is native of nearly the whole of the Atlantic coast of the United States.

Alligator terrapin, the snapping turtle.

Mud terrapin, any one of numerous species of American tortoises of the genus Cinosternon.

Painted terrapin, the painted turtle. See under Painted.

Speckled terrapin, a small fresh-water American terrapin (Chelopus guttatus) having the carapace black with round yellow spots; -- called also spotted turtle.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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terrapin 
N.Amer. turtle, 1672, earlier torope (1613), from an Algonquian source (e.g. Abnaki turepe, Delaware tulpe "turtle"). Subsequently extended to allied species in S.Amer., E.Indies, China, N.Africa.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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