tortoise
Use Tortoise in a sentence
təs noun
1.
a turtle, especially a terrestrial turtle.
2.
a very slow person or thing.
3.
testudo ( def 1 ).
Origin:
1350–1400; variant of earlier (15th-century) tortuse, tortose, tortuce, Middle English tortuca < Medieval Latin tortūca, for Late Latin tartarūcha (feminine adj.) of Tartarus (< Greek tartaroûcha), the tortoise being regarded as an infernal animal; Medieval Latin form influenced by Latin tortus crooked, twisted (see tort)
1350–1400; variant of earlier (15th-century) tortuse, tortose, tortuce, Middle English tortuca < Medieval Latin tortūca, for Late Latin tartarūcha (feminine adj.) of Tartarus (< Greek tartaroûcha), the tortoise being regarded as an infernal animal; Medieval Latin form influenced by Latin tortus crooked, twisted (see tort)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To tortoise
00:10
Tortoise
is always a great word to know.
So is lollapalooza. Does it mean:
| an extraordinary or unusual thing, person, or event; an exceptional example or instance. |
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
Collins
World English Dictionary
tortoise (ˈtɔːtəs) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —n | |
| 1. | any herbivorous terrestrial chelonian reptile of the family Testudinidae, of most warm regions, having a heavy dome-shaped shell and clawed limbsRelated: chelonian, testudinal |
| 2. | water tortoise another name for terrapin |
| 3. | a slow-moving person |
| 4. | another word for testudo See also giant tortoise |
| Related: chelonian, testudinal | |
| [C15: probably from Old French tortue (influenced by Latin tortus twisted), from Medieval Latin tortūca, from Late Latin tartarūcha coming from Tartarus, from Greek tartaroukhos; referring to the belief that the tortoise originated in the underworld] | |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
tortoise
1550s, altered (perhaps by infl. of porpoise) from M.E. tortuse (late 15c.), tortuce (mid-15c.), tortuge (late 14c.), from M.L. tortuca (mid-13c.), perhaps from L.L. tartaruchus "of the underworld" (see turtle). Others propose a connection with L. tortus "twisted," based
on the shape of the feet. The classical L. word was testudo, from testa "shell." First record of tortoise shell as a coloring pattern is from 1782.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Easton
Bible Dictionary
Tortoise definition
(Heb. tsabh). Ranked among the unclean animals (Lev. 11:29). Land tortoises are common in Syria. The LXX. renders the word by "land crocodile." The word, however, more probably denotes a lizard, called by the modern Arabs _dhabb_.
Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Example sentences
Right now, my vision of him seems to be that of a particularly eloquent tortoise keeping his neck safely within his shell.
It seems to be the tortoise that always wins the race.
The desert tortoise was declared an endangered species today because it is threatened by a respiratory disease.
Subsequently, the tortoise or some fleeting particle must always have extent to exist in any real sense.
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