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• tartar
  tartar

  noun

  calculus.
• Tartar
  Tartar

  noun

  a member of any of the various tribes, chiefly Mongolian and Turkish, who, originally under the leadership of Genghis Khan, overran Asia and much of eastern Europe in the Middle Ages.

tartar

¹ American  

[tahr-ter] / ˈtɑr tər /

noun

• tartars
  plural

1. Dentistry. calculus.

2. the deposit from wines, potassium bitartrate.

3. the intermediate product of cream of tartar, obtained from the crude form, argol.

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Tartar ² American  

[tahr-ter] / ˈtɑr tər /

noun

1. a member of any of the various tribes, chiefly Mongolian and Turkish, who, originally under the leadership of Genghis Khan, overran Asia and much of eastern Europe in the Middle Ages.

2. a member of the descendants of this people variously intermingled with other peoples and tribes, now inhabiting parts of the European and western and central Asian Russian Federation.

3. Tatar.

4. (often lowercase) a savage, intractable person.

5. (often lowercase) an ill-tempered person.

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adjective

1. of or relating to a Tartar or Tartars; Tartarian.

2. Tatar.

idioms

1. catch a Tartar, to deal with someone or something that proves unexpectedly troublesome or powerful. Also catch a tartar.

Tartar ³ American  

[tahr-ter] / ˈtɑr tər /

noun

Obsolete.

1. Tartarus.

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tartar ¹ British  

/ ˈtɑːtə /

noun

1. (sometimes capital) a fearsome or formidable person

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tartar ² British  

/ ˈtɑːtə /

noun

1. dentistry a hard crusty deposit on the teeth, consisting of food, cellular debris, and mineral salts

2. Also called: argol.  a brownish-red substance consisting mainly of potassium hydrogen tartrate, present in grape juice and deposited during the fermentation of wine

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Tartar ³ British  

/ ˈtɑːtə /

noun

1. a variant spelling of Tatar

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tartar Scientific  

/ tär′tər /

1. A hard yellowish deposit on the teeth, consisting of organic secretions and food particles deposited in various salts, such as calcium carbonate.

2. A reddish acid compound consisting of a tartrate of potassium, found in the juice of grapes and deposited on the sides of wine casks.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Tartarly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• tartars
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tartar¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Medieval Latin tartarum < Late Greek tártaron; replacing Middle English tartre < Middle French < Medieval Latin, as above

Origin of Tartar²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Medieval Latin Tartarus, perhaps variant of Tātārus (unattested), from Persian Tātār, by association with Tartarus; replacing Middle English Tartre, from Middle French, from Medieval Latin, as above

Explanation

Tartar is the buildup of plaque that can form on your teeth and cause cavities. If you become a dentist one day, part of your job will be scraping tartar off people's teeth. Tartar is a very hard substance, too hard to be brushed off with a toothbrush. It's formed when certain elements in saliva mix with the plaque that commonly occurs on teeth. Another kind of tartar is known as "cream of tartar," and it's a common ingredient in baking, either alone or as an ingredient in baking powder. The Greek root refers to this baking tartar, tartaron, "substance encrusting the sides of wine casks."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tartar Tartar tartars

When plaque builds up, it can harden into tartar and trigger chronic gum inflammation.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026

Start your meal with Crispy Kitfo, an Ethiopian beef tartar spread on crispy injera, a pillowy, slightly sour, fermented flatbread.

From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026

Studies suggest that periodontal therapy -- professional treatment that removes plaque, tartar, and infection below the gumline -- can modestly lower HbA1c levels.

From Science Daily ● May 16, 2026

Those who appreciate the minty mushy peas will wish for more than the small dollop provided; ditto the housemade tartar sauce.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 8, 2023

She ask about hard water stains and I tell her cream of tartar.

From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

The larger one was named Mayonnaise and the smaller one was named Tartar Sauce and had a little ruffle of feathers under his chin like an ascot.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2022

Jamala, who is herself a Crimean Tartar, appeared to confirm the link when she told the press: "The main message is to remember and to know this story. When we know, we prevent."

From BBC ● Feb. 24, 2022

It also has a cedar-slat wall that slides left to conceal the shelves, or right to conceal Mr. Kelley’s bedroom, just outside of which is one of Sottsass’s Tartar console tables for Memphis.

From New York Times ● May 4, 2021

Highlights of the auction include a multi-hued Big Sur sofa by Peter Shire, a tilted Colorado teapot by Marco Zanini and rare Sottsass pieces like a Tartar table and Carlton room divider.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2016

The figure in the padded coal-silk anorak answered in the same language, and Lyra saw his features: he was not a Samoyed or a Tartar.

From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman

Mine’s “Cheese, fries, two tartars, two ketchups, please.”

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 25, 2018

The patent-medicine makers, the rich-food-makers, the formaldehyde-and-seekers, the sulfiters, the coal tartars rose up against him, dubbed him "Old Borax."

From Time Magazine Archive

Thar be young 'uns an' young 'uns," he elucidated, "but they be tartars!

From Old Lady Number 31 by Forsslund, Louise

The wall and the floors were of pitch-pine, and covered with specially manufactured tartars.

From Queen Victoria by Strachey, Giles Lytton

What else? no part I take in party fray, With troops from Billingsgate's slang-whanging tartars, I fear no Pope—and let great Ernest play At Fox and Goose with Foxs' Martyrs!

From The Poetical Works of Thomas Hood by Hood, Thomas