Word.ws English Dictionary

turtledom

turtledom noun: the state of being a turtle, or of belonging to the world of turtles; turtles, collectively.

Noun

turtledom (uncountable)

  1. The state of being a turtle, or of belonging to the world of turtles; turtles, collectively.
    • It does not so much impress me as an infantile beginning of life as an epitome of all the past of turtledom and of the earth.1854, Henry David Thoreau, "A Newly Hatched Turtle", in Bradford Torrey, ed, The Writings of Henry David Thoreau: Journal (1906), page 33
    • But for a display of agility almost unparalleled in turtledom, put a small mouse in this turtle's pen, then stand back and watch.1996, Richard D. Bartlett, Patricia Pope Bartlett, Turtles and Tortoises: Everything About Selection, Care, Nutrition, Breeding, and Behavior, page 73

Origin of turtledom

From turtle + -dom.

Questions about turtledom

What does turtledom mean?
Turtledom means the state of being a turtle, or of belonging to the world of turtles; turtles, collectively.
What part of speech is turtledom?
Turtledom is a noun.

Words near turtledom in the dictionary

  1. turtlebacks
  2. turtleburger
  3. turtled
  4. turtled down
  5. turtled up
  6. turtledom
  7. turtledove
  8. Turtledove Cay
  9. turtledoves
  10. turtleflesh
  11. Turtleford

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: turtledom (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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