tortoise
UK /ˈtɔː.təs/ · US /ˈtɔɹ.təs/ noun
Forms tortoises
- noun 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.
- noun Synonym of cat (sense 11, a wheeled shelter)
Synonyms
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.
Webster’s 1913
- noun Any one of numerous species of reptiles of the order Testudinata.
- noun Same as Testudo, 2. Box tortoise, Land tortoise, etc. See under Box, Land, etc. -- Painted tortoise. (Zoöl.) See Painted turtle, under Painted.
Etymology [OE. tortuce, fr. OF. tortis crooked, fr. L. tortus isted, crooked, contorted, p.p. of torquere, tortum, to wind; cf. F. tortue tortoise, LL. tortuca, tartuca, Pr. tortesa crookedness, tortis crooked. so called in allusion to its crooked feet. See Torture.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “tortoise”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details