tortoise

UK: /ˈtɔː^rtəs/ US: /ˈtɔrtəs/ ,(tôr′təs)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

tor•toise /ˈtɔrtəs/   n. [countable]

1. Reptiles a turtle, esp. a terrestrial turtle.
2. a very slow person or thing.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

tor•toise  (tôr′təs), n. 

1. a turtle, esp. a terrestrial turtle.
2. a very slow person or thing.
3. testudo (def. 1).

• Greek tartaroûcha), the tortoise being regarded as an infernal animal; Medieval Latin form influenced by Latin tortus crooked, twisted (see tort)
• Medieval Latin tortūca, for Late Latin tartarūcha (feminine adjective, adjectival) of Tartarus (
• variant of earlier (15th-century) tortuse, tortose, tortuce, Middle English tortuca 1350–1400

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

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
2. water tortoise ⇒
   another name for terrapin
3. a slow-moving person
4. another word for testudo

Etymology: 15th Century: 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