turkey English · revision 4476

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=eponym|attested=1541}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈtɜː.ki/, US /ˈtɝː.ki/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is short for turkey-cock or turkey-hen,^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) from the place name [[Turkey]], probably in its vague 16th-century sense “Asia” or “Ottoman lands”.^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) The name was first given to the guinea fowl, a bird imported from Africa through Turkish dominions,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998) and then to the larger American bird because it was identified with or treated as a kind of guinea fowl,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) or because it reached the rest of Europe from Spain through North Africa, then under Ottoman rule.^(Etymonline) Confusion of the New World with Asia and the Indies may also have played a part,^(Etymonline) and Indian corn was at first called turkey corn or turkey wheat for the same reason.^(Etymonline) French dinde, from poulet d'Inde “chicken of India”, rests on the same confusion.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The guinea fowl, in ''turkey cock'': 1541 in Barnhart,^(Barnhart 1988) by the 1540s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) This sense is obsolete.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The American bird was domesticated by the Aztecs and brought to Spain by the conquistadors,^(Etymonline) and was found domesticated in Europe by 1530.^(Barnhart 1988) The word was applied to it in English from 1555.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) Within about fifty years the turkey was associated with Christmas (1575).^(Barnhart 1988) Its flesh as food is from 1573.^(OED 1989) ''Talk turkey'', to speak frankly, is from 1824, American,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and ''cold turkey'', the abrupt withdrawal of a drug, from 1921.^(OED 1989) A theatrical production or film that fails is a turkey from 1927, and an inept person from 1951,^(Barnhart 1988) perhaps from the bird's reputation for stupidity.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1541 – the guinea fowl.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1555 – the American bird.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1573 – its flesh as food.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1575 – associated with Christmas.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1824 – ''talk turkey''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1921 – ''cold turkey''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1927 – a flop.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1951 – an inept person.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large North American bird with a bare, wattled head and neck, widely kept for food.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The flesh of this bird as food.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(slang)'' A [[failure]], especially a play or film.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(slang)'' A stupid or inept person.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''talk turkey'': to speak frankly.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''cold turkey'': the abrupt withdrawal of an addictive [[drug]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[turkey-cock]]

+ * [[turkey-trot]]

+ * [[cold turkey]]

+ * [[turkey buzzard]]

+ * [[turkey oak]]

+ * [[turkey shoot]]

+ * [[turkey vulture]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[Turk]]

+ * [[Turkish]]

+ * [[guinea]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The country name [[Turkey]], from Medieval Latin Turchia, “land of the Turks”, is from the late 14th century,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and in Middle English it was also used of clothing and cookery styles.^(Etymonline) In Turkish the bird is called hindi, literally “Indian”.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}