I. ˈtərk, ˈtə̄k, ˈtəik noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French or Turkish; Middle French Turc, from Medieval Latin or Turkish; Medieval Latin Turcus from Turkish Türk
1. usually capitalized
a. : a member of any of numerous Asiatic peoples speaking Turkic languages who live in the region ranging from the Adriatic to the Okhotsk and who are racially mixed but are held to have risen in the Altai mountains and western Siberia
b. : a member of the dominant race of the Ottoman Empire
2. capitalized : a native or inhabitant of Turkey
3. usually capitalized , archaic : one who is cruel, hardhearted, or tyrannical
a terrible Turk at keeping his wife up to her social duties — W.W.Hunter
4. usually capitalized : muslim ; specifically : a Muslim subject of the Turkish sultan
5. usually capitalized : a Turkish horse ; specifically : a Turkish strain of Arab and crossbred horses
6. usually capitalized : one of a group of people of mixed white, Indian, and Negro ancestry especially in So. Carolina — often used disparagingly
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: French turc; probably from Turc Turkish
: plum curculio ; also : the larva of various destructive beetles