tartar

C2 Topic:Word Formation & Derivatives

US /ˈtɑːrtɚ/ UK /ˈtɑːtə/ See IPA manual

Freq #25261

Meanings

1

noun
a hard deposit of mineralized dental plaque that forms on teeth; dental calculus

The salesman claimed his powder would remove tartar from the teeth.
2

noun
a crust of potassium hydrogen tartrate deposited during wine fermentation, used to make cream of tartar

The winemaker scraped tartar from the inside of the old barrel.
3

noun
dated, disparaging: a fierce, harsh, or difficult person

The new supervisor proved a tartar when deadlines were missed.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a hard deposit of... dental calculuscalculus

2 noun · a crust of potassium... wine stonepotassium bitartrate

3 noun · dated, disparaging: a... dragon tyrant

Word family

Derived forms tartarictartareous

Related forms cream of tartarplaque

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

tartar sauce
a mayonnaise-based sauce with chopped pickles and sometimes capers or herbs, often served with fish

Noun + noun

Etymology

From Old French tartre and Medieval Latin tartarum, probably through Byzantine Greek. The word first named the wine deposit, then similar mineral crusts such as dental calculus. This lowercase chemical word is historically separate from the ethnonym Tatar.

Topics

Word Formation & Derivatives Register & Style General Vocabulary

External links

# tartar

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈtɑːrtɚ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtɑːtə/
**Frequency rank:** 25261

## Meanings
1. a hard deposit of mineralized dental plaque that forms on teeth; dental calculus
2. a crust of potassium hydrogen tartrate deposited during wine fermentation, used to make cream of tartar
3. dated, disparaging: a fierce, harsh, or difficult person

## Examples
- The salesman claimed his powder would remove tartar from the teeth.
- The winemaker scraped tartar from the inside of the old barrel.
- The new supervisor proved a tartar when deadlines were missed.

## Synonyms
- dental calculus
- wine stone
- potassium bitartrate

## Derived Forms
- tartaric
- tartareous

## Related Forms
- cream of tartar
- plaque

## Etymology
From Old French tartre and Medieval Latin tartarum, probably through Byzantine Greek. The word first named the wine deposit, then similar mineral crusts such as dental calculus. This lowercase chemical word is historically separate from the ethnonym Tatar.

## Topics
- Word Formation & Derivatives
- Register & Style
- General Vocabulary

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