See Also: tartan(medicine)
tartan(1)(dictionary)
tartan(2)(dictionary)
tartan(dictionary)
tartan(encyclopedia)
tartan(dictionary)

tartan(1) (iou)



tartan noun1 & adjective. Orig. Scot. L15.
[Perh. from Old French tertaine var. of TIRETAINE; perh. also infl. by TARTARIN noun.]
A. noun.
a. A kind of woollen cloth woven in stripes of various colours crossing at right angles so as to form a regular pattern and worn esp. by the Scottish Highlanders, each clan having a distinctive pattern. Also, a chequered pattern like that of tartan cloth, a tartan pattern on other fabric etc. Freq. with specifying word indicating (a pattern traditionally associated with) a particular clan. L15.
Balmoral tartan, Frazer tartan, Stewart tartan, etc.
b. transf. A person wearing tartan; a Highlander, a Scot; wearers of tartan collectively, the men of a Highland regiment. E19.
c. A member of a Protestant youth gang in Northern Ireland, traditionally supporters of Glasgow Rangers Football Club. L20.
Angling. An artificial salmon-fly. M19.
(Tartan.) (Proprietary name for) a synthetic resin material used for surfacing running tracks, ramps, etc. M20.
b. adjective.
Made of tartan cloth; having a chequered pattern like that of tartan. M16.
W. Trevor Lavinia was wearing a tartan skirt.
transf. & fig. Designating something pertaining to Scotland or the Scottish, or evoking Scottish national fervour. M20.
tartan tax colloq. tax levied by a Scottish assembly after devolution, esp. when causing Scottish taxpayers to pay more than their English counterparts.
Edmund Ward I'm no threat to your dreams of a tartan sunrise.
tartanry noun tartan things collectively, esp. worn or displayed as a mark of Scottish national fervour; Scottishness; Scottishry: L20.