Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.
Tartar en · ADJ · etymology 1
Pronunciation
/ˈtɑː(ɹ)tə(ɹ)/
Etymology
From Old French Tartaire, from Medieval Latin Tartarus (“Tartar, Mongol”), from Old Turkic 𐱃𐱃𐰺 (t¹t¹r¹), spelling influenced by Latin Tartarus (“Hell (in Greek mythology)”), from Ancient Greek Τάρταρος (Tártaros). Doublet of Tatar and tartare.
Meanings
Of or relating to the people or culture of Tartars.
From Old French Tartaire, from Medieval Latin Tartarus (“Tartar, Mongol”), from Old Turkic 𐱃𐱃𐰺 (t¹t¹r¹), spelling influenced by Latin Tartarus (“Hell (in Greek mythology)”), from Ancient Greek Τάρταρος (Tártaros). Doublet of Tatar and tartare.
Meanings
(alt-of, alternative) Alternative spelling of Tatar.
A member of the various tribes and their descendants of Tartary, such as Turks, Mongols and Manchus.
Persia is a great country, which was in old times very illustrious and powerful; but now the Tartars have wasted and destroyed it. 1871, Henry Yule, transl., The Travels of Marco Polo, Marco Polo, book 1, chapter 13:
(dated, figuratively) A person of a keen, irritable temper.
(figuratively) A rough or violent event.
I haven't escaped sickness all my life to get off easily now. […] I knew when my turn came, it would be a Tartar. 2003, Erik Larson, “Alone”, in The Devil in the White City, Vintage Books, page 106: