Etymologically
Log in

turtle

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 15:06. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

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
  • 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