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turd

[turd]
noun Slang: Vulgar.
  1. a piece of excrement.
  2. a mean, contemptible person.

Origin of turd

before 1000; Middle English; Old English tord
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

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Contemporary Examples of turd

British Dictionary definitions for turd

turd

noun slang
  1. a lump of dung; piece of excrement
  2. an unpleasant or contemptible person or thing

Word Origin for turd

Old English tord; related to Old Norse tordy fill dung beetle, Dutch tort dung

usage

This word was formerly considered to be taboo, and it was labelled as such in previous editions of Collins English Dictionary . However, it has now become acceptable in speech, although some older or more conservative people may object to its use
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
Word Origin and History for turd
n.

Old English tord, from Proto-Germanic *turdam (cf. Middle Dutch torde "piece of excrement," Old Norse tord-yfill, Dutch tort-wevel "dung beetle"), from PIE *drtom, past participle of root *d(e)r- "flay, tear," thus "that which is separated (or torn off) from the body" (cf. shit from root meaning "to split;" Greek skatos from root meaning "to cut off; see scatology). As a type of something worthless and vile, it is attested from mid-13c.

A tord ne yeue ic for eu alle ["The Owl and the Nightingale," c.1250]


Alle thingis ... I deme as toordis, that I wynne Crist. [Wyclif, Phil. iii.8, 1382; KJV has "I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord"]

Meaning "despicable person" is recorded from mid-15c.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper