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tortuga

turtle

noun tohr-TOO-gah Rare
Animals & Nature Wild Animals

Origin: From Late Latin tartaruchus (inhabitant of Tartarus, the underworld), via Greek tartaroûchos.

Also means

tortoise

Usage Note

Tortuga covers both sea turtles and land tortoises — Spanish does not distinguish the two by default. To specify, speakers say tortuga marina (sea turtle) or tortuga terrestre (tortoise). The idiom a paso de tortuga means 'at a snail's pace'.

Examples

"La tortuga marina nadaba entre los corales."

Natural Translation

The sea turtle swam among the corals.

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