different between turquoise vs tortoise

English

Alternative forms

• Turkies (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle French Turquoise, from Old French (pierre) turquoise (“Turkish (stone)”), from turc +? -ois. The stone, mined near Nishapur in the Khorasan region of Persia, was originally brought to Europe through Turkey.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?t??(?).k(w)??z/, /?t??(?).k(w)??s/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?t?.k(w)??z/, /?t?.k(w)??s/

Noun

turquoise (countable and uncountable, plural turquoises)

1. (countable) A sky-blue, greenish-blue, or greenish-gray semi-precious gemstone.
2. (countable and uncountable) A pale greenish-blue colour, like that of the gemstone.

Synonyms

• (colour): blue-green, green-blue, greenish blue, turquoise blue

Derived terms

• bone turquoise

Translations

Further reading

• turquoise on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Adjective

turquoise (comparative more turquoise, superlative most turquoise)

1. Made of turquoise (the gemstone).
2. Having a pale greenish-blue colour.

Translations

See also

• (blues) blue; Alice blue, aqua, aquamarine, azure, baby blue, beryl, bice, bice blue, blue green, blue violet, blueberry, cadet blue, Cambridge blue, cerulean, cobalt blue, Copenhagen blue, cornflower, cornflower blue, cyan, dark blue, Dodger blue, duck-egg blue, eggshell blue, electric-blue, gentian blue, ice blue, lapis lazuli, light blue, lovat, mazarine, midnight blue, navy, Nile blue, Oxford blue, peacock blue, petrol blue, powder blue, Prussian blue, robin's-egg blue, royal blue, sapphire, saxe blue, slate blue, sky blue, teal, turquoise, ultramarine, Wedgwood blue, zaffre ^{(Category: en:Blues)}
• augite

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ty?.kwaz/

Noun

turquoise f (plural turquoises)

1. turquoise (gemstone)

Noun

turquoise m (plural turquoises)

1. turquoise (colour)

Adjective

turquoise (invariable)

1. turquoise-colored

Further reading

• “turquoise” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Middle French

Alternative forms

• turcquoise

Noun

turquoise f (plural turquoises)

1. turquoise (precious stone)

English

Etymology

From Middle English tortuse, tortuce, tortuge, from Medieval Latin tortuca, of uncertain origin. May be from Late Latin tartar?cha, from tartar?chus, from Ancient Greek ??????????? (tartaroûkhos, “holder of Tartaros, Tartarus, the land of the dead in ancient stories”), because it used to be thought that tortoises and turtles came from the underworld and they were commonly paired with such infernal beasts; or from Latin tortus (“twisted”). Displaced native Old English byrdling.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?t???.t?s/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?t??.t?s/
  • (UK, also) IPA^(key): /?t???t??s/
• Rhymes: -??(?)t?s

Noun

tortoise (plural tortoises)

1. Any of various land-dwelling reptiles, of the family Testudinidae (chiefly Canada, US) or the order Testudines (chiefly Britain, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, India), whose body is enclosed in a shell (carapace plus plastron). The animal can withdraw its head and four legs partially into the shell, providing some protection from predators.

   Synonym: (obsolete) shellpad

Usage notes

Differences exist in usage of the common terms turtle, tortoise, and terrapin, depending on the variety of English being used. In American usage, turtle is often a general term; tortoise is used only in reference to terrestrial turtles or, more narrowly, only those members of Testudinidae, the family of modern land tortoises; and terrapin may refer to turtles that are small and live in fresh and brackish water.

British and Commonwealth usage, by contrast, tends not to use turtle as a generic term for all members of the order but instead as a synonym for sea turtle specifically, and also applies the term tortoises broadly to all land-dwelling members of the order Testudines, regardless of whether they are actually members of the family Testudinidae.

Land tortoises are not native to Australia, yet traditionally freshwater turtles have been called tortoises in Australia.

Derived terms

• pancake tortoise
• tortoise-like, tortoiselike
• tortoise shell, tortoise-shell

Translations

See also

• terrapin
• turtle

Further reading

• tortoise on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• rootiest