Tartary

English

Alternative forms

• Tatary (archaic)

Etymology

From Old French Tartaire, from Medieval Latin Tartarus (“Tartar, Mongol”), from Old Turkic 𐱃𐱃𐰺, spelling influenced by Latin Tartarus (“Hell (in Greek mythology)”), from Ancient Greek Τάρταρος (Tártaros).

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)təɹi

Proper noun

Tartary

1. (archaic) The Eurasian Steppe.
2. Obsolete form of Tartarus.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book I, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 102:

     An huge great Dragon horrible in ſight,
     Bred in the loathly lakes of Tartary

Derived terms

• Chinese Tartary
• Crim Tartary, Krim Tartary
• Kuban Tartary
• lamb of Tartary
• Little Tartary

Related terms

• Tartar
• Tatar

Translations

historical term for the Eurasian steppes and Central Asia

• Hungarian: Tatárország, Tatárföld (hu)
• Russian: Тарта́рия (ru) f (Tartárija)

References

• “Tartary”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Rattray