tartar

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Tar·tar

(tär′tər)

[Middle English Tartre, from Old French Tartare, from Medieval Latin Tartarus, alteration (influenced by Latin Tartarus, Tartarus) of Persian Tātār; see Tatar.]

tar·tar

(tär′tər)

1. Dentistry A hard yellowish deposit on the teeth, consisting of organic secretions and food particles deposited in various salts, such as calcium carbonate. Also called calculus.

2. A reddish acid compound, chiefly potassium bitartrate, found in the juice of grapes and deposited on the sides of casks during winemaking.

[Middle English tartre, potassium bitartrate, from Old French, from Medieval Latin tartarum, argol, from Medieval Greek tartaron.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

tartar

(ˈtɑːtə)

1. (Dentistry) dentistry a hard crusty deposit on the teeth, consisting of food, cellular debris, and mineral salts

2. (Elements & Compounds) Also called: argol a brownish-red substance consisting mainly of potassium hydrogen tartrate, present in grape juice and deposited during the fermentation of wine

[C14: from Medieval Latin tartarum, from Medieval Greek tartaron]

tartar

(ˈtɑːtə)

(sometimes capital) a fearsome or formidable person

[C16: special use of Tartar]

Tartar

(ˈtɑːtə)

n, adj

(Languages) a variant spelling of Tatar

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

tar•tar

(ˈtɑr tər)

n.

1. calculus (def. 3).

2. the deposit from wines, cream of tartar.

3. the intermediate product of cream of tartar, obtained from the crude form, argol.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin tartarum < Late Greek tártaron]

tar•tar′ic (-ˈtær ɪk, -ˈtɑr-) tar′tar•ous, adj.

Tar•tar

(ˈtɑr tər)

n.

1. a member of any of various Mongolian and Turkic peoples who, under Genghis Khan and his successors, ruled parts of central and W Asia and E Europe until the 18th century.

2. Tatar (defs. 1, 2).

3. (often l.c.) a savage, intractable, or ill-tempered person.

[1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin Tartarus]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun	1.	tartar - a salt used especially in baking powder cream of tartar, potassium bitartrate, potassium hydrogen tartrate salt - a compound formed by replacing hydrogen in an acid by a metal (or a radical that acts like a metal)
	2.	tartar - a fiercely vigilant and unpleasant woman dragon disagreeable woman, unpleasant woman - a woman who is an unpleasant person
	3.	Tartar - a member of the Mongolian people of central Asia who invaded Russia in the 13th century Mongol Tatar, Tatar Mongol, Mongolian - a member of the nomadic peoples of Mongolia
	4.	tartar - an incrustation that forms on the teeth and gums calculus, tophus crust, encrustation, incrustation - a hard outer layer that covers something

Translations

Zahnstein

sarro

filet américaintartre

tartaro energumeno polvere di tartaro

sarro

Tartar

[ˈtɑːtəʳ]

A. ADJ → tártaro

B. N → tártaro/a m/f

tartar

[ˈtɑːtəʳ]

A. N

1. (on teeth) → sarro m, tártaro m

2. (Chem) → tártaro m

3. (Culin) (also cream of tartar) → crémor m tartárico

4. (= woman) (fig) → fiera f

B. CPD
see tartare

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

tartar

[ˈtɑː^rtə^r] n

(on teeth) → tartre m

(= tyrant) → tyran mtartare sauce tartar sauce n → sauce f tartare

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

Tartar

n → Tatar(in) m(f); to catch a Tartar (fig) → sich (dat) → etwas Übles einhandeln

tartar

n (fig) → Tyrann(in) m(f)

tartar

n (on teeth) → Zahnstein m

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

tartar

¹ [ˈtɑːtəʳ] n (on teeth) → tartaro
cream of tartar → cremortartaro

tartar

² [ˈtɑːtəʳ] n (fig) → despota m

tartar

n (dent) cálculo (form), sarro (dental)

References in classic literature ?

In this interval the poor Chinese came in who had lost the camel, but he had no weapon; however, seeing the Tartar down, and his horse fallen upon him, away he runs to him, and seizing upon an ugly weapon he had by his side, something like a pole-axe, he wrenched it from him, and made shift to knock his Tartarian brains out with it.

I jumped upon my feet instantly, and got hold of my sword, but no enemies were in view: I found a Tartar lying dead, and his horse standing very quietly by him; and, looking further, I saw my deliverer, who had been to see what the Chinese had done, coming back with his hanger in his hand.

The company was very great, and, as near as I can remember, made between three and four hundred horses, and upwards of one hundred and twenty men, very well armed and provided for all events; for as the Eastern caravans are subject to be attacked by the Arabs, so are these by the Tartars. The company consisted of people of several nations, but there were above sixty of them merchants or inhabitants of Moscow, though of them some were Livonians; and to our particular satisfaction, five of them were Scots, who appeared also to be men of great experience in business, and of very good substance.

In two days more we passed the great China wall, made for a fortification against the Tartars: and a very great work it is, going over hills and mountains in an endless track, where the rocks are impassable, and the precipices such as no enemy could possibly enter, or indeed climb up, or where, if they did, no wall could hinder them.

I told him it was a most excellent thing to keep out the Tartars; which he happened not to understand as I meant it and so took it for a compliment; but the old pilot laughed!

View in context

Tartar, with a wave of his hand and the deftness of a cat, had already dipped through his scuttle of scarlet runners without breaking a leaf, and 'gone below.'

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Creakle had not preferred his claim to being a Tartar without reason; that he was the sternest and most severe of masters; that he laid about him, right and left, every day of his life, charging in among the boys like a trooper, and slashing away, unmercifully.

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Betteredge gave me one look at parting, which said, as if in so many words, "You have caught a Tartar, Mr.

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The color of the Indian, the writer believes, is peculiar to himself, and while his cheek-bones have a very striking indication of a Tartar origin, his eyes have not.

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But my heart has gone to the Tartar war, To bleak Kansuh and the steppes of snow, Calling my husband back to me.

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He was a very quick and gay intelligence, with more sympathy for my love of our author's humor than for my love of his sentiment, and I can remember very well the twinkle of his little sharp black eyes, with their Tartar slant, and the twitching of his keenly pointed, sensitive nose, when we came to some passage of biting satire, or some phrase in which the bitter Jew had unpacked all the insult of his soul.

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Wars, in ancient time, seemed more to move from east to west; for the Persians, Assyrians, Arabians, Tartars (which were the invaders) were all eastern people.