ridley English · revision 1870

+ {{infobox|confidence=unknown|attested=1897}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɹɪdli/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Its origin is unknown.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)^(Etymonline)^(RHWU)^(COED 2004) Etymonline says it came from a common name of the turtles in the Florida Keys.^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster Unabridged and Webster's Third suggest that it probably comes from the surname Ridley,^(MWU 2024)^(Webster's Third 1961) but the other dictionaries do not accept this.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A sea turtle of the genus ''Lepidochelys'' (1897 in Merriam-Webster Unabridged and the Historical Thesaurus).^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sources disagree on when the word appears: 1897 in Merriam-Webster Unabridged and the Historical Thesaurus,^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED) 1926 in the Collegiate,^(MW Collegiate) and 1942 in the OED and Etymonline,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) while the Concise Oxford gives the 1940s and Random House 1940–45.^(COED 2004)^(RHWU) It first named the Atlantic species, Kemp's ridley, once also called the bastard turtle;^(Webster's Third 1961)^(HTOED) the name was later extended to the olive ridley of the Pacific and Indian Oceans (1952).^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1897 – first known use (Merriam-Webster Unabridged).^(MWU 2024)^(HTOED)

+ * 1926 – Merriam-Webster Collegiate's date.^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1942 – first OED quotation.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1952 – the olive ridley (Historical Thesaurus).^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Either of two small sea [[turtle]]s of the genus ''Lepidochelys'': Kemp's ridley of the Gulf of Mexico and the North Atlantic, or the olive ridley of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[Kemp's ridley]]

+ * [[olive ridley]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[turtle]]

+ * [[terrapin]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}