turtle |
| NOUN: |
1 |
: any of an order (Testudines syn. Chelonia) of terrestrial, freshwater, and marine reptiles that have a toothless horny beak and a shell of bony dermal plates usually covered with horny shields enclosing the trunk and into which the head, limbs, and tail usually may be withdrawn |
| |
|
|
| ETYMOLOGY: |
|
modification of French tortue, from Late Latin (bestia) tartarucha, feminine of tartaruchus of Tartarus, from Greek tartarouchos, from Tartaros Tartarus; from Mithraic and early Christian association of the turtle with infernal forces
First Known Use: 1612
|
Merriam Webster OnLine® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition.
Copyright © 2011 by Merriam-Webster, Inc.
All rights reserved.
|
|
|
