tortoise

[tawr-tuh s] /ˈtɔr təs/
noun
1.
a turtle, especially a terrestrial turtle.
2.
a very slow person or thing.
3.
testudo (def 1).
Origin
1350-1400; variant of earlier (15th-century) tortuse, tortose, tortuce, Middle English tortuca < Medieval Latin tortūca, for Late Latin tartarūcha (feminine adj.) of Tartarus (< Greek tartaroûcha), the tortoise being regarded as an infernal animal; Medieval Latin form influenced by Latin tortus crooked, twisted (see tort)
Examples from the web for tortoise
  • The desert tortoise was declared an endangered species today because it is threatened by a respiratory disease.
  • Cheating in sports might be as old as the race between the tortoise and the hare.
  • Red-footed tortoises in the wild live a typically lonely tortoise life, without even being cared for by their parents.
  • It seems to be the tortoise that always wins the race.
  • In the fable, the tortoise wins the race because the hare takes a nap.
  • After all, there is no need to spend time wondering if the world sits on the back of an giant tortoise.
  • Right now, my vision of him seems to be that of a particularly eloquent tortoise keeping his neck safely within his shell.
  • The tortoise shells surrounded the remains of individuals who the scientists say were shamans.
  • Subsequently, the tortoise or some fleeting particle must always have extent to exist in any real sense.
  • tortoise minds are uniquely suited to tortoise environments.
British Dictionary definitions for tortoise

tortoise

/ˈtɔːtəs/
noun
1.
any herbivorous terrestrial chelonian reptile of the family Testudinidae, of most warm regions, having a heavy dome-shaped shell and clawed limbs related adjectives chelonian testudinal
2.
water tortoise, another name for terrapin
3.
a slow-moving person
4.
another word for testudo See also giant tortoise
Word Origin
C15: probably from Old French tortue (influenced by Latin tortus twisted), from Medieval Latin tortūca, from Late Latin tartarūcha coming from Tartarus, from Greek tartaroukhos; referring to the belief that the tortoise originated in the underworld
Word Origin and History for tortoise
n.

1550s, altered (perhaps by influence of porpoise) from Middle English tortuse (late 15c.), tortuce (mid-15c.), tortuge (late 14c.), from Medieval Latin tortuca (mid-13c.), perhaps from Late Latin tartaruchus "of the underworld" (see turtle). Others propose a connection with Latin tortus "twisted," based on the shape of the feet. The classical Latin word was testudo, from testa "shell." First record of tortoise shell as a coloring pattern is from 1782.

tortoise in the Bible

(Heb. tsabh). Ranked among the unclean animals (Lev. 11:29). Land tortoises are common in Syria. The LXX. renders the word by "land crocodile." The word, however, more probably denotes a lizard, called by the modern Arabs _dhabb_.