Tartar Meaning
/ˈtɑɹ.tɚ/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA red compound deposited during wine making, mostly potassium hydrogen tartrate; wine stone — a source of cream of tartar.
nounA hard yellow deposit on the teeth, formed from dental plaque.
Sentence Examples
I think I have a lot of tartar.
The tartar has to be removed.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The dentist removed the hard ____ from the patient's teeth.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Eating too many sugary foods can lead to the buildup of ____ on your teeth if you do not brush them regularly today.
Word Origin & History
From Old French tartre, from Medieval Latin tartarum, from Byzantine Greek τάρταρον (tártaron), said to be from Arabic دُرْدِيّ (durdiyy), though it is already found in Pelagonius’s Ars veterinaria 46 in the adjective tartarālis, if the reading is correct. Arabic etymon from Persian درد (dord, “dreg”) from Proto-Iranian *dr̥ti- (“manure, feces”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰṛ-to-, from Proto-Indo-European *dʰreyd- (“to have diarrhea”), whence also doublet of dirt.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Mrs. Begg said she liked Mrs. Dain, who was a sensible woman and a first-rate housewife, but that Gabrielle was a tartar."
— 1929, Dashiell Hammett, chapter 3, in The Dain Curse, New York: Vintage, published 1972, page 28:
"Persia is a great country, which was in old times very illustrious and powerful; but now the Tartars have wasted and destroyed it."
— 1871, Henry Yule, transl., The Travels of Marco Polo, Marco Polo, book 1, chapter 13:
"I haven't escaped sickness all my life to get off easily now. […] I knew when my turn came, it would be a Tartar."
— 2003, Erik Larson, “Alone”, in The Devil in the White City, Vintage Books, page 106:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The dentist removed the hard ____ from the patient's teeth.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Eating too many sugary foods can lead to the buildup of ____ on your teeth if you do not brush them regularly today.