tortoise
/ˈtɔɹ.təs/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.26 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
Example Sentences
- "The tortoise, with its characteristic protrusion of the head and neck, was a symbol sacred to Venus. It represented the procreative principle."
Etymology
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.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: tortuse, tortuca, tartarūcha, ταρταροῦχος, tortus
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈtɔɹ.təs/
- British English: /ˈtɔː.təs/