tartar
Plural: tartars
Noun
- A hard calcified deposit that forms on the teeth.
- a salt used especially in baking powder
- a fiercely vigilant and unpleasant woman
- a member of the Mongolian people of central Asia who invaded Russia in the 13th century
- an incrustation that forms on the teeth and gums
- A red compound deposited during wine making; mostly potassium hydrogen tartrate — a source of cream of tartar.
- A hard yellow deposit on the teeth, formed from dental plaque.
- A fearsome or angrily violent person.
Examples
- The word TARTAR built up his score significantly on the Scrabble board.
Origin / Etymology
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.
Synonyms
calculus, cream of tartar, dragon, Mongol Tatar, potassium bitartrate, potassium hydrogen tartrate, Tatar, tophus
Scrabble Score: 6
tartar: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordtartar: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
tartar: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary