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tartan

The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable | 2006 | | Copyright

tartan a woollen cloth woven in one of several patterns of coloured checks and intersecting lines, especially of a design associated with a particular Scottish clan. (The attribution of particular designs is comparatively modern, dating from around 1800.)

Recorded from the late 15th century, the word may come from Old French tertaine, denoting a kind of cloth; compare with tartarin, a rich fabric formerly imported from the east through Tartary.

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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "tartan." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "tartan." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-tartan.html

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tartan

The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea | 2006 | Copyright

tartan, or tartane, a small coasting vessel of the Mediterranean, possibly a development of the medieval tarette, which originated with the Arabs for use as a cargo-carrying vessel. Tartans were single masted with a lateen mainsail and a small foresail set on a bowsprit. They carried a crew of about 30 men. Simultaneously, there were in the Mediterranean fishing vessels known as tartanas; unlike the true tartan they had a flat bottom.

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tartan

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

tar·tan¹ / ˈtärtn/ • n. a woolen cloth woven in one of several patterns of plaid, esp. of a design associated with a particular Scottish clan. • adj. used allusively in reference to Scotland or the Scots. tar·tan² • n. hist. a lateen-rigged, single-masted ship used in the Mediterranean.

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tartan

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | Copyright

tartan Cloth, usually woollen, with a pattern of stripes crossing at right angles. The cross-bars are of different colours and widths, usually on a red or green background. The patterned cloth is now associated mainly with the Highlands of Scotland. Many Scottish clans have their own, unique tartan patterns.

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tartan

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

tartan (orig. Sc.) woollen cloth woven in stripes crossing at right angles. XVI. perh. — OF. tertaine, var. of tiretaine cloth half wool, half linen or cotton, of unkn. orig.

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T. F. HOAD. "tartan." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "tartan." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-tartan.html

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Tartan

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2008 | Copyright

Tartan , in the Bible, official title of two Assyrians sent to Hezekiah by Sennacherib and Sargon.

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tartan

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2008 | Copyright

tartan see plaid .

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tartan

tartan •baton, batten, fatten, flatten, harmattan, Manhattan, Mountbatten, paten, patten, pattern, platen, Saturn, slattern •Shackleton • Appleton •Hampton, Northampton, Rockhampton, Southampton, Wolverhampton •Canton, lantern, Scranton •Langton, plankton •Clapton •Aston, pastern •Gladstone •Caxton, Paxton •capstan • Ashton • phytoplankton •Akhenaten, Akhetaten, Aten, Barton, carton, Dumbarton, hearten, Parton, smarten, spartan, tartan •Grafton •Carlton, Charlton •Charleston • kindergarten •Aldermaston •Breton, jetton, Sowetan, threaten, Tibetan •lectern •Elton, melton, Skelton •Denton, Fenton, Kenton, Lenten, Trenton •Repton •Avestan, Midwestern, northwestern, Preston, southwestern, western •sexton •Clayton, Deighton, Leighton, Paton, phaeton, Satan, straighten, straiten •Paignton • Maidstone •beaten, Beaton, Beeton, Cretan, Keaton, neaten, Nuneaton, overeaten, sweeten, uneaten, wheaten •chieftain •eastern, northeastern, southeastern •browbeaten • weatherbeaten •bitten, bittern, Britain, Briton, Britten, handwritten, hardbitten, kitten, Lytton, mitten, smitten, underwritten, witan, written •Clifton •Milton, Shilton, Stilton, Wilton •Middleton • singleton • simpleton •Clinton, Linton, Minton, Quinton, Winton •cistern, Liston, piston, Wystan •brimstone • Winston • Kingston •Addington • Eddington •Workington •Arlington, Darlington •skeleton •Ellington, wellington •exoskeleton •cosmopolitan, megalopolitan, metropolitan, Neapolitan •Burlington • Hamilton • badminton •lamington • Germiston • Penistone •Bonington • Orpington • Samaritan •Carrington, Harrington •sacristan • Festschriften •Sherrington • typewritten •Warrington • puritan • Fredericton •Lexington • Occitan • Washington •Whittington • Huntington •Galveston • Livingstone •Kensington •Blyton, brighten, Brighton, Crichton, enlighten, frighten, heighten, lighten, righten, tighten, titan, triton, whiten •begotten, cotton, forgotten, ill-gotten, misbegotten, rotten •Compton, Crompton •wanton • Longton •Boston, postern •boughten, chorten, foreshorten, Laughton, Morton, Naughton, Orton, quartan, quartern, shorten, tauten, torten, Wharton •Alton, Dalton, Galton, saltern, Walton •Taunton • Allston • Launceston •croton, Dakotan, Minnesotan, oaten, verboten •Bolton, Doulton, molten •Folkestone • Royston •Luton, newton, rambutan, Teuton •Houston • Fulton •button, glutton, Hutton, mutton •sultan •doubleton, subaltern •fronton • Augustan • Dunstan •tungsten • quieten • Pinkerton •charlatan • Wollaston • Palmerston •Edmonton • automaton • Sheraton •Geraldton • Chatterton • Betterton •Chesterton • Athelstan •burton, curtain, uncertain •Hurston

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"tartan." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 10 Feb. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"tartan." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (February 10, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-tartan.html

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