Turk
noun
a native or inhabitant of Turkey.
Turk
1 American
[turk]
/ tɜrk /
noun
Turks
plural
-
a native or inhabitant of Turkey.
-
(formerly) a native or inhabitant of the Ottoman Empire.
-
a Muslim, especially a subject of the Sultan of Turkey.
-
a member of any of the peoples speaking Turkic languages.
-
one of a breed of Turkish horses closely related to the Arabian horse.
-
any Turkish horse.
-
Archaic. a cruel, brutal, and domineering man.
Turk
1
British
/ tɜːk /
noun
-
a native, inhabitant, or citizen of Turkey
-
a native speaker of any Turkic language, such as an inhabitant of Turkmenistan or Kyrgyzstan
-
obsolete a violent, brutal, or domineering person
Turk.
2
British
abbreviation
-
Turkey
-
Turkish
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of Turk
First recorded in 1400–50; from Old French Turc, Middle English Turke, Turque, ultimately from Turkish Türk; compare Medieval Latin Turcus, Medieval Greek Toûrkos, Middle French turc, Italian turco, Persian turk
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
So for the past five or six years, I’ve been playing Turk to Zach Braff’s J.D.
From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2026
Dutch colonial records refer to Anthony as a Turk or “Mauhammetan,” despite the absence of any Muslim religiosity on his part.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 19, 2026
Turk also voiced concerns about the convictions of 33 other opposition activists, human rights defenders and social media users, in a separate case on Wednesday.
From Barron's • May 1, 2026
Volker Turk, the United Nations' High Commissioner for Human Rights, condemned the attacks, saying the numbers killed and injured were appalling.
From Barron's • Apr. 8, 2026
The third man, mustachioed, perhaps a Turk, was easily the biggest human being she had ever seen.
From "The Princess Bride" by William Goldman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
