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Webster 1913 Edition
Tartar
Tar′tar
,Noun.
[F.
tartre
(cf. Pr. tartari
, Sp., Pg., & It. tartaro
, LL. tartarum
, LGr. [GREEK]); perhaps of Arabic origin.] 1.
(Chem.)
A reddish crust or sediment in wine casks, consisting essentially of crude cream of tartar, and used in marking pure cream of tartar, tartaric acid, potassium carbonate, black flux, etc., and, in dyeing, as a mordant for woolen goods; – called also
argol
, wine stone
, etc. 2.
A correction which often incrusts the teeth, consisting of salivary mucus, animal matter, and phosphate of lime.
Cream of tartar
. (Chem.)
See under
– Cream
. Tartar emetic
(Med. Chem.)
, a double tartrate of potassium and basic antimony. It is a poisonous white crystalline substance having a sweetish metallic taste, and used in medicine as a sudorific and emetic.
Tar′tar
,Noun.
1.
[Per.
Tātār
, of Tartar origin.] A native or inhabitant of Tartary in Asia; a member of any one of numerous tribes, chiefly Moslem, of Turkish origin, inhabiting the Russian Europe; – written also, more correctly but less usually,
Tatar
. 2.
A person of a keen, irritable temper.
To catch a tartar
, to lay hold of, or encounter, a person who proves too strong for the assailant.
[Colloq.]
Tar′tar
,Adj.
Of or pertaining to Tartary in Asia, or the Tartars.
Webster 1828 Edition
Tartar
T`ARTAR
, n.1.
An acid concrete salt, formed from wines completely fermented, and adhering to the sides of the casks in the form of a hard crust. It is white or red, the white being most esteemed. In its crude state, it is much used as a flux in the assaying of ores.Tartar is a supertartrate of potash; that is, a compound of tartaric acid and potash, having the acid in excess.
2.
A person of a keen irritable temper.3.
A native of Tartary; a corruption of Tatar.T`ARTAR
,Noun.