tortoise
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tortoise
- /ˈtɔɹ.təs/ US
- /ˈtɔː.təs/ UK
- /ˈtɔːˌtɔɪs/ UK, also
Rhymes with -ɔː(ɹ)təs
Where it comes from
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.
noun tortoises
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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.
The tortoise, with its characteristic protrusion of the head and neck, was a symbol sacred to Venus. It represented the procreative principle.
Similar: shellpad
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Synonym of cat (sense 11, a wheeled shelter)
Similar: cat
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: turtle, turtles, spotted, thighed, stinkpot, blanding, tortue, terrapin, chelonian, testudine, testudinid, testudo, slider, cooter, mud-turtle, sea-turtle
Translations
Every language
noun land-dwelling reptile
| Español | tortuga, tortuga terrestre, morrocoy, galápago, morrocota, morrocoyo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 거북 geobuk, 거북이 geobugi, 땅거북 ttanggeobuk |
| 日本語 | 亀 kame, カメ kame, 陸亀 rikugame |
| 中文 | 龜 /龟 guī, 烏龜 /乌龟 wūguī, 草龜 /草龟 cǎoguī, 陸龜 /陆龟 lùguī |
| हिन्दी | कछुआ kachuā |
| Kiswahili | kobe |
| Português | tartaruga, jabuti, cágado |
| Français | tortue |
| Deutsch | Schildkröte, Landschildkröte |
| Italiano | testuggine, tartaruga |
| Ελληνικά | χελώνα chelóna |
| Română | țestoasă, broască țestoasă |
| Русский | черепа́ха čerepáxa, желвь želvʹ |
| Tiếng Việt | rùa |
| العربية | سُلَحْفَاة sulaḥfāh |
| עברית | צָב tzav, שַׁלְחוּפָה šalḥūp̄ā |
Talk about this word "tortoise." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/tortoise. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. tortoise. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/tortoise "tortoise." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/tortoise.Cite this
@misc{tortoise_2026,
title = {tortoise},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/tortoise},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
