Tatar

American  

[tah-ter] / ˈtɑ tər /

noun

1. a member of a modern Turkic people living in the Tatar Autonomous Republic and adjacent regions of eastern European Russia and in widely scattered communities in western Siberia and central Asia.

2. the language of this people, including the literary language of the Tatar Autonomous Republic, the dialects of the Tatar Autonomous Republic and adjacent regions of the Volga basin Volga Tatar, and numerous other dialects, some transitional to other Turkic languages.

3. Crimean Tatar.

4. Tartar.

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adjective

1. of or relating to the Tatars or their language.

2. Tartar.

Tatar British  

/ tɑːˈtærɪk, ˈtɑːtə, tɑːˈtɛərɪən /

noun

1. 1. a member of a Mongoloid people who under Genghis Khan established a vast and powerful state in central Asia from the 13th century until conquered by Russia in 1552

   2. a descendant of this people, now scattered throughout Russia but living chiefly in the Tatar Republic

2. any of the languages spoken by the present-day Tatars, belonging to various branches of the Turkic family of languages, esp Kazan Tatar

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adjective

1. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Tatars

Other Word Forms

• Tatarian adjective
• Tataric adjective

Etymology

Origin of Tatar

First recorded in 1805–15; see origin at Tartar

Example Sentences

Ten years earlier, his predecessor Stalin had deported Crimea's Tatar population, so the majority population was ethnic Russian.

From BBC • Feb. 23, 2026

Mr Khan, the MP for Manchester Rusholme, also met with Turkish-Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar - a move which the Cypriot government described as "absolutely condemnable and unacceptable".

From BBC • Aug. 15, 2025

Tomas Tatar countered with a response goal and fellow winger Andre Burakovsky scored his first goal in just over two months, with 2:39 left in regulation, on the power play.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 18, 2024

Tatar, meanwhile, after a strong start with the Kraken, has just one goal and one assist since Feb. 10.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 3, 2024

Gori has a high school for girls, and a school for Russian and Tatar teachers.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 3 "Gordon, Lord George" to "Grasses" by Various