turkey
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Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.
turkey¹
- /ˈtɜːki/ UK
- /ˈtɝki/ US
Sounds like Turkey · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)ki
Where it comes from
Ellipsis of turkey-cock and turkey hen, originally denoting the guinea fowl, an African bird that was first imported to Europe through Turkey, but there is some controversy over the origin. The word was then transferred to the superficially similar North American bird Meleagris gallopavo.
noun turkeys · turkies · turkie
- The guinea fowl (family Numididae).
- A wild turkey of Meleagris gallopavo.
- A domesticated bird of Meleagris gallopavo domesticus. It was a Turkey! He never could have stood upon his legs, that bird. He would have snapped 'em short off in a minute, like sticks of sealing-wax.
- The flesh or meat of this bird eaten as food. All week after Thanksgiving, I had turkey sandwiches for lunch.
- With a distinguishing word: a bird resembling the Meleagris gallopavo (for example, the brush turkey or bush turkey (Alectura lathami), and the water turkey (Anhinga anhinga)).
- An act of throwing three strikes in a row.
- A patient feigning symptoms; a person faking illness or injury; a malingerer. Mumford (1970) noted that the terms ‘crock’, ‘gomer’, and ‘turkey’, were sometimes utilized by interns to designate different types of undesirable patients, and sometimes used synonymously.
- A pack carried by a lumberman; a bindle; also, a large travel bag, a suitcase.
-
A failure.
That film was a turkey.
Similar: flop
-
A foolish or inept person.
The turkey cut in front of me and then berated me for running into him.
Similar: addle-brain, addlehead, addle pate, airhead, baboon, beanbrain, beetlebrain, beetlehead, berk, bimbo, birdbrain, blockhead
- A prostitute. Shorty think she slick, but everybody know she a turkey.
Turkey²
- /ˈtɜːki/ Australia, UK
- /ˈtɝki/ US
- /ˈtøːki/ New Zealand, Wales
- /ˈtʌɾke/ Scotland
- /-kɪ/ Scotland
- /-ki/ Scotland
- /ˈtʊːki/
- /ˈtʊːɹki/
- /ˈteːki/
- /ˈtɛːki/
Sounds like turkey · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)ki
Where it comes from
From Middle English Turkye, from Anglo-Norman Turkye, Medieval Latin Turcia, from Turcus (“Turk”), from Medieval Greek Τοῦρκος (Toûrkos), from Classical Persian تُرْک (turk), from Middle Persian [script needed] (twlk' /turk/), from Old Turkic 𐱅𐰇𐰼𐰜 (t²ẅr²ẅk²). By surface analysis, Turke + -y.
proper noun Türkiye · Turkiye
-
A country located in Eastern Thrace in Southeastern Europe and Anatolia in West Asia. Official name: Republic of Türkiye. Capital: Ankara.
One Terrorgram user livestreamed himself stabbing five people outside of a mosque in Turkey, she said, and a 19-year-old Slovakian man praised the group in a manifesto before killing two people at an LGBTQ bar in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia.
Similar: Türkiye, Turkiye, Republic of Turkey
-
Synonym of Ottoman Empire, a former empire in Europe, Asia, Africa. Capital: Istanbul.
Similar: Ottoman Empire
- A city in Hall County, Texas, United States.
noun Türkiye · Turkiye
-
Synonym of Turkey red (“a vibrant red dye or its color”).
Similar: Turkey red
-
Synonym of Turkey blue (“a deep indigo dye or its color”).
Similar: Turkey blue
adjective more Turkey · most Turkey · Türkiye · Turkiye
-
Synonym of Turkey red (“dyed or colored Turkey red”).
Similar: Turkey red
-
Synonym of Turkey blue (“dyed or colored Turkey blue”).
Similar: Turkey blue
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: joker, bomb, dud, agriocharis ocellata, meleagris gallopavo, ocellated turkey, bird, goose, buzzard, gobbler, tur, piggy, turnip, lemon, roast, bourbon
Translations
Every language
noun bird in the genus Meleagris
| Español | pavo, chompipe, chumpe, cócono, guajolote, guanajo |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 칠면조 chilmyeonjo |
| 日本語 | 七面鳥 shichimenchō, カラクン karakun, カラクン鳥 karakun-chō, ターキー tākī |
| 中文 | 火雞 /火鸡 huǒjī, 吐綬雞 /吐绶鸡 tǔshòujī |
| हिन्दी | पीरू pīrū |
| Kiswahili | bata mzinga |
| Português | peru |
| Français | dinde, dindon |
| Deutsch | Pute, Puter, Truthahn, Truthenne, Truthuhn, Kurre |
| Italiano | tacchino, tacchina, gallinaccio, pollo d’India |
| Ελληνικά | γαλοπούλα galopoúla, διάνος diános |
| Română | curcan, curcă |
| Русский | индю́к indjúk, инде́йка indéjka, индю́шка indjúška |
| Tiếng Việt | gà tây |
| العربية | دِيك رُومِيّ dīk rūmiyy, دِيك هِنْدِيّ dīk hindiyy, دِيكُ ٱلْحَبَش dīku l-ḥabaš |
| עברית | תַּרְנְגוֹל הֹדּוּ tarnegól hódu, הֹדּוּ hódu |
noun flesh or meat of this bird
| Français | dinde, viande de dinde, dindon, viande de dindon |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Pute, Putenfleisch, Truthahn, Truthahnfleisch |
name country at intersection of Europe and Asia
| Español | Turquía |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 튀르키예 Twireukiye, 터키 Teoki |
| 日本語 | トルコ Toruko |
| 中文 | 土耳其 Tǔ'ěrqí |
| हिन्दी | तुर्की turkī, रूम rūm, तुर्किया turkiyā |
| Kiswahili | Uturuki |
| Português | Turquia |
| Français | Turquie |
| Deutsch | Türkei |
| Italiano | Turchia |
| Ελληνικά | Τουρκία Tourkía |
| Română | Turcia |
| Русский | Ту́рция Túrcija |
| Tiếng Việt | Thổ Nhĩ Kỳ, Thổ Nhĩ Kì |
| العربية | تُرْكِيَا turkiyā |
| עברית | טוּרְקְיָה túrkya, תּוּרְכְּיָה túrkya |
Talk about this word "turkey." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/turkey. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. turkey. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/turkey "turkey." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/turkey.Cite this
@misc{turkey_2026,
title = {turkey},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/turkey},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
