turtledom en · NOUN
Etymology
From turtle + -dom.
Meanings
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(uncountable) The state of being a turtle, or of belonging to the world of turtles; turtles, collectively.
But for a display of agility almost unparalleled in turtledom, put a small mouse in this turtle's pen, then stand back and watch.
1996, Richard D. Bartlett, Patricia Pope Bartlett, Turtles and Tortoises: Everything About Selection, Care, Nutrition, Breeding, and Behavior, page 73:Kids, collectors and the pet store business are threatening turtledom.
2004, Mary Blocksma, Great Lakes Nature: An Outdoor Year, page 108:It does not so much impress me as an infantile beginning of life as an epitome of all the past of turtledom and of the earth.
1854, Henry David Thoreau, "A Newly Hatched Turtle", in Bradford Torrey, ed, The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal (1906), page 33