turtle

Turtle, the dove, is an old word from Latin; turtle, the reptile, is a later sailors' alteration of French tortue.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˈtɜː.təl/, US /ˈtɝː.t̬əl/^[4]

turtle¹ dove

Etymology

The dove is inherited from Middle English turtel, inherited from Old English turtle, also turtla,^[1][5][6] borrowed from Latin turtur (“turtledove”), imitating the bird's cooing.^[1][5][6][2] It is related to Old High German turtulo (modern German Turteltaube).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The turtledove: about 1000.^[1][7]

Semantic evolution

Graceful and devoted to its mate, the turtle was a term of endearment in Middle English and a symbol of married love.^[5][7] Turtledove is from about 1300,^[5] and the word is now rare or obsolete on its own.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1000 – turtle, the dove.^[1][7]
• c. 1300 – turtledove.^[5]
• 15th century – a term of endearment.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. (archaic) A turtledove.

Word family

• turtledove

turtle² reptile

Etymology

The reptile is borrowed from French tortue (“turtle, tortoise”) in altered form, influenced by turtle, the dove.^{[1][5][6][2][8]} English sailors probably gave it the name.^[3][5] The French word is of unknown or uncertain origin;^[5][3] Barnhart and Merriam-Webster explain it through Vulgar Latin *tartarūca (“beast of Tartarus”), from Late Latin tartarūchus (“of the underworld”).^[1][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A marine tortoise: 1657, in a translation of Plutarch's Lives.^[1][7]

Semantic evolution

It was later extended to land tortoises.^[5] Turtle flesh as food is from 1755, and turtle soup by 1763.^[7][5] Catching turtles by turning them on their backs is recorded from 1689, and to turn turtle, to capsize, by 1818.^[7][5][3]

Timeline

• 1657 – a sea turtle.^[1][7]
• 1689 – to turn turtles.^[7]
• 1755 – turtle meat.^[7]
• by 1818 – to turn turtle, capsize.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Any of various reptiles of the order Testudines, with a bony or leathery shell into which most can withdraw the head and limbs.
2. A sea turtle.

Verb

1. To hunt for turtles.
2. To capsize; to turn turtle.

Word family

• turtleneck

Related words

• tortoise
• dove

Usage notes

The classical Latin word for a tortoise was Latin testūdō.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d 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
8. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press