tortoise

名词 n.
中文释义
英 /ˈtɔː.təs/|/ˈtɔːˌtɔɪs/    美 /ˈtɔɹ.təs/

英文释义

名词 n.
  1. Any of various land-dwelling reptiles, of the family Testudinidae (chiefly Canada, US) or the order Testudines (chiefly UK, 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.
    — The tortoise, with its characteristic protrusion of the head and neck, was a symbol sacred to Venus. It represented the procreative principle.
  2. Synonym of cat (sense 11, a wheeled shelter)

词形变化

tortoises plural

词汇关系

衍生词
African spurred tortoise Aldabra giant tortoise angonoka tortoise Bolson tortoise boofhead tortoise Burmese star tortoise desert tortoise elephantine tortoise Galápagos giant tortoise Galápagos tortoise geometric tortoise giant tortoise golden tortoise beetle gopher tortoise Hermann's tortoise hinge-back tortoise hinged-back tortoise hinged tortoise Horsfield's tortoise Indian star tortoise leopard tortoise Madagascar tortoise pancake tortoise ploughshare tortoise radiated tortoise red-footed tortoise red tortoise cake Santa Fe Island tortoise sculptured tortoise sea tortoise soft tortoise tortoise beetle tortoise core tortoise-like tortoiselike tortoiseshell tortoise-shell bamboo tortoise shell bracket tortoise shell tortoise-shell
相关词
terrapin turtle

词源

From Middle English tortuse, tortuce, tortuge, from Medieval Latin tortuca, of uncertain origin. May be from Late Latin tartarūcha, from tartarūchus, from Ancient Greek ταρταροῦχος (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; see Τάρταρος (Tártaros). Or, from Latin tortus (“twisted”). The French-looking Modern English spelling tortoise may be influenced by porpoise. Displaced native Old English byrdling.
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