tartan

See also: Tartan, tartán, and tårtan

English

A montage of Scottish tartans (patterns) of various clans

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈtɑɹtn̩/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɑːtn̩/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)tən

Etymology 1

Blend of Middle English tartaryn (“rich material”), from Middle French tartarin (“Tartar cloth”), and Middle French tiretaine (“cloth of mixed fibers”), from Old French tiret (“kind of cloth”), from tire (“oriental cloth of silk”), from Medieval Latin tyrius (“material from Tyre”), from Latin Tyrus (“Tyre”).

Noun

tartan (countable and uncountable, plural tartans)

1. A kind of woven woolen cloth with a distinctive pattern of colored stripes intersecting at right angles, associated with Scottish Highlanders, different clans and some Scottish families and institutions having their own distinctive patterns; clothing made from this material.

   Synonym: Scotch plaid

   Coordinate term: flannel

2. The pattern associated with such material.
3. An individual or a group wearing tartan; a Highlander or Scotsman in general.
4. Trade name of a synthetic resin, used for surfacing tracks etc.

Derived terms

• tartan noir
• tartan tax
• tartanization
• tartanize
• tartanry

Descendants

• → Catalan: tartà
• → Scottish Gaelic: tartan

Translations

woollen cloth with a distinctive pattern

• Catalan: tartà m
• Cornish: brith (collective)
• Danish: tartan n or c
• Esperanto: tartano
• French: tartan (fr) m
• Irish: breacán m
• Manx: breckan m
• Polish: tartan (pl) m
• Romanian: tartan (ro) n
• Russian: шотла́ндский плед m (šotlándskij pled), тарта́н (ru) m (tartán)
• Scottish Gaelic: tartan m
• Slovene: škotski karo m
• Spanish: tartán m
• Welsh: plod m

pattern associated with such material

• German: Schottenkaro n
• Polish: tartan (pl) m

Adjective

tartan (comparative more tartan, superlative most tartan)

1. Having a pattern like a tartan.
   • 1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 11, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:

     ... my pupils leave off their thick shoes and tight old tartan pelisses, and wear silk stockings and muslin frocks, as fashionable baronets' daughters should.

   • 1929, M. Barnard Eldershaw, A House is Built, Chapter IX, Section iii:

     In the second row of the cavalcade were Francie, Fanny's god-daughter, now thirteen years old and already elegant in long frilled pantalettes, tartan skirts, and a leghorn hat with streamers, …

2. (humorous) Scottish.

Translations

having tartan pattern

• Danish: skotskternet
• Finnish: skottiruutuinen
• Manx: breck, breckanagh
• Polish: tartanowy

Verb

tartan (third-person singular simple present tartans, present participle tartaning, simple past and past participle tartaned)

1. (transitive) To clothe in tartan.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from French tartane, from Italian tartana, of uncertain origin.

Alternative forms

• tartana, tartane

Noun

tartan (plural tartans)

1. A type of one-masted lateen-sailed vessel used in the Mediterranean.
   • 1877, Jules Verne, Ellen E. Frewer (translator), Hector Servadac, Part 2, Chapter X: Market Prices in Gallia,

     Hakkabut hereupon descended into the hold of the tartan, and soon returned, carrying ten packets of tobacco, each weighing one kilogramme, and securely fastened by strips of paper, labelled with the French Government stamp.

   • 1896, Arthur Conan Doyle, Rodney Stone, Chapter IV: The Peace of Amiens,

     When we were watching Massena, off Genoa, we got a matter of seventy schooners, brigs, and tartans, with wine, food, and powder.

2. (historical) A kind of long covered carriage.

Translations

type of vessel

• Catalan: tartana (ca) f
• Finnish: tartaani (fi)
• French: tartane (fr) f
• Ido: tartan-navo (io)
• Italian: tartana f
• Ottoman Turkish: طرخاندیل (tirhandil)
• Polish: tartana f
• Spanish: tartana f
• Turkish: tirhandil (tr)

Anagrams

• Rattan, Tatran, rattan, tantra

Danish

Etymology

From English tartan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tartan/, [ˈtˢɑːtˢan]

Noun

tartan n or c (singular definite tartanet or tartanen)

1. tartan (woollen cloth with a distinctive pattern)
2. tartan (synthetic resin, used for surfacing tracks etc.) [from 1969]

Related terms

• skotskternet

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English tartan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɑr.tɑn/, (colloquial) /tɑrˈtɑn/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: tar‧tan

Noun

tartan n or m (plural tartans)

1. tartan (woollen cloth with a distinctive pattern of intersecting orthogonal coloured stripes, associated with Scottish Highlanders)
2. a kilt or cloak made of tartan

Usage notes

Neuter gender is usually preferred for the mass noun denoting the fabric while masculine is preferred for countable nouns, but the distinction is not observed as clearly for this word as it is for other terms that are both mass nouns and countable nouns.

Related terms

• tierelantijn

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

tartan m (plural tartans)

1. tartan

Further reading

• “tartan”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtar.tan/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -artan
• Syllabification: tar‧tan

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English tartan, from Middle English tartaryn, from Middle French tartarin, tiretaine, from Old French tiret, from tire, from Medieval Latin tyrius, from Latin Tyrus, from Ancient Greek Τύρος (Túros), from Phoenician 𐤑𐤅𐤓 (ṣwr).

Noun

tartan m inan

1. tartan (woollen cloth with a distinctive pattern of intersecting orthogonal coloured stripes, associated with Scottish Highlanders)
2. tartan (pattern associated with such material)
3. clothing made of such fabric
4. (athletics) tartan track (all-weather synthetic track surfacing made of polyurethane used for track and field competitions)
5. (athletics, colloquial) tartan track (stadium or running track covered with such material)

Declension

Declension of tartan

	singular	plural
nominative	tartan	tartany
genitive	tartanu	tartanów
dative	tartanowi	tartanom
accusative	tartan	tartany
instrumental	tartanem	tartanami
locative	tartanie	tartanach
vocative	tartanie	tartany

Derived terms

adjective

• tartanowy

 

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

tartan f

1. genitive plural of tartana

Further reading

• tartan in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French tartan.

Noun

tartan n (plural tartane)

1. tartan

Declension

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	tartan	tartanul		tartane	tartanele
genitive-dative	tartan	tartanului		tartane	tartanelor
vocative	tartanule			tartanelor

Scottish Gaelic

Etymology

From English tartan.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtʰarˠʃtan/

Noun

tartan m (genitive singular tartain, plural tartain)

1. tartan (woollen cloth with a distinctive pattern)

Declension

Declension of tartan (type I masculine noun)

indefinite
	singular	plural
nominative	tartan	tartain
genitive	tartain	thartan
dative	tartan	tartain; tartanaibh✝
definite
	singular	plural
nominative	(an) tartan	(na) tartain
genitive	(an) tartain	(nan) tartan
dative	(an) tartan	(na) tartain; tartanaibh✝
vocative	thartain	thartana

^✝ obsolete form, used until the 19th century

Mutation

Mutation of tartan

radical	lenition
tartan	thartan

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Scottish Gaelic.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.