English
tartan
see also: Tartan
Pronunciation
  • (GA) IPA: /tɑɹtən/
  • (RP) IPA: /tɑːtən/
Noun

tartan

  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.
Translations
  • French: tartan
  • Russian: шотла́ндский плед
  • Spanish: tartán
Translations
  • German: Schottenkaro
Adjective

tartan

  1. Having a pattern like a tartan.
    • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 11:
      ... my pupils leave off their thick shoes and tight old tartan pelisses, and wear silk stockings and muslin frocks, as fashionable baronets' daughters should.
    • 1929, M. Barnard Eldershaw, A House Is Built, Chapter IX, Section iii
      In 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

tartan (tartans, present participle tartaning; past and past participle tartaned)

  1. (transitive) To clothe in tartan.
Noun

tartan (plural tartans)

  1. A type of one-masted vessel used in the Mediterranean.
    • 1877, Jules Verne, Ellen E. Frewer (translator), Hector Servadac, 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, Rodney Stone, 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.
  2. (historical) A kind of long covered carriage.
Translations
Tartan
Proper noun
  1. The commander-in-chief of ancient Assyria.
    • 1611, And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. — 2 Kings 18:17 (Authorised Version)
    • 1611, In the year that Tartan came unto Ashdod, (when Sargon the king of Assyria sent him,) and fought against Ashdod, and took it — Isaiah 20:1 (Authorised Version)


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