tartan
Woven woollen fabric with a distinctive pattern of coloured stripes intersecting at…Woven woollen fabric with a distinctive pattern of coloured stripes intersecting at right angles originally associated with Scottish Highlanders, now with different clans (though this only dates from the late 18th century) and some Scottish families and institutions having their own patterns; (countable) a particular type of such fabric.
» The skirt has a tartan pattern.
Meaning
9 senses(uncountable)Woven woollen fabric with a distinctive pattern of coloured stripes intersecting at right angles originally associated with Scottish Highlanders, now with different clans (though this only dates from the late 18th century) and some Scottish families and institutions having their own patterns; (countable) a particular type of such fabric.
Woven woollen fabric with a distinctive pattern of coloured stripes intersecting at right angles originally associated with Scottish Highlanders, now with different clans (though this only dates from the late 18th century) and some Scottish families and institutions having their own patterns; (countable) a particular type of such fabric.
(countable)A pattern used on such fabric.
Schottenkaro
(uncountable)Clothing made from this fabric.
(countable, figuratively)An individual who wears tartan (etymology 1, noun sense 1.2); specifically, a Scottish Highlander, or a Scottish person (chiefly a Scotsman) in general.
(countable, figuratively)A type of fly used in fly fishing, often to catch salmon.
(UK, countable, figuratively)A young person who is a member of a Protestant gang in Northern Ireland.
(figuratively, uncountable)Preceded by the: a group of people customarily wearing tartan; Scottish Highlanders or Scottish people collectively; also, the soldiers of a Scottish Highland regiment collectively.
(attributive, uncountable)Originally a trade name in the form Tartan: a synthetic resin used for surfacing ramps, running tracks, etc.
(transitive)A type of one-masted vessel with a lateen sail and a foresail, used in the Mediterranean.
- a cloth having a crisscross design
Examples
3 sentencesThe skirt has a tartan pattern.
We'd suggest a chic upholstered bed with a little tartan fabric.
She inherited a beautiful wool blanket woven in the traditional Black Watch tartan.
Translations
9 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
By meaning 2
Origin
The noun is an unadapted borrowing from Scots tartan, from Old Scots tartane, tertane, proThe noun is an unadapted borrowing from Scots tartan, from Old Scots tartane, tertane, probably from Old French tertaine, tiretaine (“cloth of wool mixed with cotton or linen”), probably from tiret (“kind of precious cloth”) + -aine modelled after futaine (“woven cloth made from cotton mixed with linen or silk”). Tiret is derived from tire (“kind of silk cloth”), from Medieval Latin tyrium (“cloth dyed with Tyrian purple”), a noun use of Latin tyrium, an inflection of tyrius (“of Tyre, Tyrian”), from Latin Tyrus (“Phoenician city of Tyre (in modern Lebanon)”) (from Ancient Greek Τῠ́ρος (Tŭ́ros), from Phoenician 𐤑𐤓 (ṣr)) + -ius (suffix forming adjectives).
Borrowed from French tartane, from Italian tartana; further origin uncertain, said to be from Arabic طَرِيدَة (ṭarīda, “type of fast ship”) but according to the Oxford English Dictionary there is insufficient evidence for this.
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Forms
plural: tartansSynonyms
2 synonyms- a cloth having a crisscross design:plaid
Word family
4 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable