Tartary

[tahr-tuh-ree]

noun

the historical name of a region of indefinite extent in E Europe and Asia: designates the area overrun by the Tartars in the Middle Ages, from the Dnieper River to the Pacific.

Also Tatary.

Origin of Tartary

1350–1400; Middle English Tartarye < Middle French Tartarie < Medieval Latin Tartaria. See tartar, -y³

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for tartary

Historical Examples of tartary

He's still with me, somewhere; I rather believe in Tartary, just now.
The Daltons, Volume I (of II)
Charles James Lever
Travels in Tartary, Thibet, and China, during the years 1844-5-6.
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 451
Various
And he thinks it likely that there is unbroken land as far as Tartary.
All Afloat
William Wood
A Knight, one of the chief nobles of Tartary, was his first opponent.
The Seven Champions of Christendom
W. H. G. Kingston
They would as soon have suspected him of being the Khann of Tartary!
What Will He Do With It, Complete
Edward Bulwer-Lytton

British Dictionary definitions for tartary

Tartary

noun

a variant spelling of Tatary

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012