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Ta·tar (tätər)
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n.
1.
a. A member of a group of Turkic peoples primarily inhabiting Tatarstan in west-central Russia and parts of Siberia and Central Asia.
b. Any of the Turkic languages of the Tatars.
2. A member of any of the Turkic and Mongolian peoples of central Asia who invaded western Asia and eastern Europe in the Middle Ages. In all senses also called Tartar.

[Persian Tātār, of Turkic origin.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.