Tartan

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈtɑːtÉ™n/
• Rhymes: -ɑː(r)tÉ™n

Blend of Middle English tartaryn ("rich material"), from Middle French tartarin ("Tartar cloth"), and Middle French tiretaine ("cloth of mixed fibers"), from Old French tiret ("kind of cloth"), from tire ("oriental cloth of silk"), from Medieval Latin tyrius ("material from Tyre"), from Latin Tyrus ("Tyre").

Full definition of tartan

Noun

1. A kind of woven woollen cloth with a distinctive pattern of coloured stripes intersecting at right angles, associated with Scottish Highlanders, different clans having their own distinctive patterns.
2. The pattern associated with such material.
3. An individual or a group wearing tartan; a Highlander or Scotsman in general.
4. Trade name of a synthetic resin, used for surfacing tracks etc.

Adjective

1. Having a pattern like a tartan.
• 1929, M. Barnard Eldershaw, A House Is Built, Chapter IX, Section iiiIn the second row of the cavalcade were Francie, Fanny's god-daughter, now thirteen years old and already elegant in long frilled pantalettes, tartan skirts, and a leghorn hat with streamers, …
2. (humorous) Scottish.

Verb

1. (transitive) To clothe in tartan.

From French tartane, from Italian tartana, of uncertain origin.

Alternative forms

• tartane
• tartana

Noun

1. A type of one-masted vessel used in the Mediterranean.
• 1877, Jules Verne, Ellen E. Frewer (translator), , Part 2, Chapter X: Market Prices in Gallia,Hakkabut hereupon descended into the hold of the tartan, and soon returned, carrying ten packets of tobacco, each weighing one kilogramme, and securely fastened by strips of paper, labelled with the French Government stamp.
• 1896, Arthur Conan Doyle, , Chapter IV: The Peace of Amiens,When we were watching Massena, off Genoa, we got a matter of seventy schooners, brigs, and tartans, with wine, food, and powder.

Anagrams

• rattan
• tantra