terrapin

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English

WOTD – 24 October 2021

Etymology

An adult female diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin), one of the species of turtles originally known as terrapins (sense 2).
The European pond turtle or European pond terrapin (Emys orbicularis; sense 3).
A red-eared slider or red-eared terrapin (Trachemys scripta elegans; sense 3).

From torup (“snapping turtle native to North America, especially the common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina)”)[1] or from its etymon Powhatan *tōrəp (“sea turtle”) + possibly English -ine (suffix forming derivative or diminutive nouns),[2] perhaps influenced by Latin terra (“dry land; soil; planet Earth”).[3] Cognate with Abenaki tolba (“turtle”), Penobscot dolba and Unami (pisëla)tulpe (“soft-shelled turtle”).

Pronunciation

Noun

terrapin (countable and uncountable, plural terrapins)

  1. (countable) Any of several small turtles of the families Emydidae and Geoemydidae found throughout the world.
  2. (countable, obsolete) Any turtle.
    • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, “He is Found by the Lieutenant; Reconducted to His Own House; Married to Mrs. Grizzle, ”, in The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle , volumes (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., , →OCLC, page 27, column 2:
      The third ſervice was made up of a loin of freſh pork with apple-ſauce, a kid ſmothered with onions, and a terrapin baked in the ſhell; […]
    • 1766, T[obias] Smollett, “Letter XIX”, in Travels through France and Italy. , volume I, London: R Baldwin, , →OCLC, page 302:
      The land-turtle, or terrapin, is much better known at Nice, as being a native of this county; yet the beſt are brought from the iſland of Sardinia. The ſoup or bouillon of this animal is always preſcribed here as a great reſtorative to conſumptive patients.
    • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The Town-ho’s Story (as Told at the Golden Inn)”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, footnote, page 269:
      The ancient whale-cry [i.e., "town-ho"] upon first sighting a whale from the masthead, still used by whalemen in hunting the famous Gallipagos terrapin.
  3. (countable, obsolete) Any of several small turtles native to North America that live in brackish or fresh water, especially the diamondback terrapin (Malaclemys terrapin).
    • 1862, Anthony Trollope, “From Boston to Washington”, in North America. , volume I, London: Chapman & Hall, , →OCLC, page 467:
      As to the terrapin, I have not so much to say. The terrapin is a small turtle, found on the shores of Maryland and Virginia, out of which a very rich soup is made. It is cooked with wines and spices, and is served in the shape of a hash, with heaps of little bones mixed through it. […] I must, however, confess that the terrapin for me had no surpassing charms.
  4. (uncountable, obsolete) The flesh of such a turtle used as food.
    • 1862, Anthony Trollope, “From Boston to Washington”, in North America. , volume I, London: Chapman & Hall, , →OCLC, page 467:
      The man who did not eat twice of terrapin would be held in small repute, as the Londoner is held who at a city banquet does not partake of both thick and thin turtle.

Alternative forms

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. ^ “torup, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, December 2020; “torup, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ “-ine, suffix4”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2021; “-ine4, suf.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “terrapin, n.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, June 2021; “terrapin, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  4. ^ Stanley, Oma (1937) “I. Vowel Sounds in Stressed Syllables”, in The Speech of East Texas (American Speech: Reprints and Monographs; 2), New York: Columbia University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, § 4, page 13.
  5. ^ Jones, M. Jean (1973 August) The Regional English of the Former Inhabitants of Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains‎, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, page 68.

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