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terrapin

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Terrapin
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ter⋅ra⋅pin

[ter-uh-pin]
–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.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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Terrapin
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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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Word Origin & History

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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