Etymologically
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turkey

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈtɜː.ki/, US /ˈtɝː.ki/[1]

Etymology

It is short for turkey-cock or turkey-hen,[2][3] from the place name Turkey, probably in its vague 16th-century sense “Asia” or “Ottoman lands”.[4][2] The name was first given to the guinea fowl, a bird imported from Africa through Turkish dominions,[4][5][6][3] and then to the larger American bird because it was identified with or treated as a kind of guinea fowl,[4][5] or because it reached the rest of Europe from Spain through North Africa, then under Ottoman rule.[4] Confusion of the New World with Asia and the Indies may also have played a part,[4] and Indian corn was at first called turkey corn or turkey wheat for the same reason.[4] French dinde, from poulet d'Inde “chicken of India”, rests on the same confusion.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The guinea fowl, in turkey cock: 1541 in Barnhart,[5] by the 1540s in Etymonline.[4] This sense is obsolete.[7]

Semantic evolution

The American bird was domesticated by the Aztecs and brought to Spain by the conquistadors,[4] and was found domesticated in Europe by 1530.[5] The word was applied to it in English from 1555.[5][7][2] Within about fifty years the turkey was associated with Christmas (1575).[5] Its flesh as food is from 1573.[7] Talk turkey, to speak frankly, is from 1824, American,[5][7] and cold turkey, the abrupt withdrawal of a drug, from 1921.[7] A theatrical production or film that fails is a turkey from 1927, and an inept person from 1951,[5] perhaps from the bird's reputation for stupidity.[5]

Timeline

  • 1541 – the guinea fowl.[5]
  • 1555 – the American bird.[5][7]
  • 1573 – its flesh as food.[7]
  • 1575 – associated with Christmas.[5]
  • 1824 – talk turkey.[5][7]
  • 1921 – cold turkey.[7]
  • 1927 – a flop.[5]
  • 1951 – an inept person.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A large North American bird with a bare, wattled head and neck, widely kept for food.
  2. The flesh of this bird as food.
  3. (slang) A failure, especially a play or film.
  4. (slang) A stupid or inept person.
  5. talk turkey: to speak frankly.
  6. cold turkey: the abrupt withdrawal of an addictive drug.

Word family

  • turkey-cock
  • turkey-trot
  • cold turkey
  • turkey buzzard
  • turkey oak
  • turkey shoot
  • turkey vulture
  • Turk
  • Turkish
  • guinea

Usage notes

The country name Turkey, from Medieval Latin Turchia, “land of the Turks”, is from the late 14th century,[4][7] and in Middle English it was also used of clothing and cookery styles.[4] In Turkish the bird is called hindi, literally “Indian”.[4]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  3. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press