英和和英

発音

• (General American) IPA: /ˈtɔɹ.təs/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈtɔː.təs/
  • (英国発音, also) IPA: /ˈtɔːˌtɔɪs/
• 韻: -ɔː(ɹ)təs

名詞

tortoise (plural tortoises)

1. Any of various land-dwelling reptiles, of the family Testudinidae (chiefly Canada, US) or the order Testudines (chiefly UK, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, India), whose body is enclosed in a shell (carapace plus plastron). The animal can withdraw its head and four legs partially into the shell, providing some protection from predators.

   Synonym: (obsolete) shellpad

   • 1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 235:

     The tortoise, with its characteristic protrusion of the head and neck, was a symbol sacred to Venus. It represented the procreative principle.

2. Synonym of cat (sense 11, a wheeled shelter)

使用する際の注意点

Differences exist in usage of the common terms turtle, tortoise, and terrapin, depending on the variety of English being used. In American usage, turtle is often a general term; tortoise is used only in reference to terrestrial turtles or, more narrowly, only those members of Testudinidae, the family of modern land tortoises; and terrapin may refer to turtles that are small and live in fresh and brackish water.

British and Commonwealth usage, by contrast, tends not to use turtle as a generic term for all members of the order but instead as a synonym for sea turtle specifically, and also applies the term tortoises broadly to all land-dwelling members of the order Testudines, regardless of whether they are actually members of the family Testudinidae.

Land tortoises are not native to Australia, yet traditionally freshwater turtles have been called tortoises in Australia.

派生語

参考

• terrapin
• turtle

Further reading

• tortoise on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

アナグラム

• rootiest