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PlainSpell

tartan

tar·tan/ˈtɑɹtn̩/noun, adjective, verb

tartan is spelled T-A-R-T-A-N: 6 letters and 2 syllables (tar·tan). It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,393rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tartan means “Woven woollen fabric with a distinctive pattern of coloured stripes intersecting at right angles originally associated with Scottish Highlanders, now…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tartan is tartans.

How many letters and syllables are in tartan?

Letters6: T-A-R-T-A-N
Syllables2: tar·tan
In writingabout once in every 1 million words; the 32,393rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with
Same letters

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is tartan?

Tartan appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 32,393rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce tartan?

  • UK /ˈtɑːt(ə)n/
  • US /ˈtɑɹtn̩/
  • US [-ɾn̩]

Tartan has 2 syllables, split tar·tan in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-tartan.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with tartan?

2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tartan from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹtn/):

Spelled with the same letters in another order: rattan, tantra.

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of tartan

  • tartans plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • more tartan comparative
  • most tartan superlative
  • tartaning participle, present
  • tartaned participle, past
  • tartana
  • tartane

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does tartan mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Woven woollen fabric with a distinctive pattern of coloured stripes intersecting at right angles originally associated with Scottish Highlanders, now with different clans (though this only dates from the late 18th century) and some Scottish families and institutions having their own patterns; (countable) a particular type of such fabric.

  2. 2

    A pattern used on such fabric.

  3. 3

    Clothing made from this fabric.

  4. 4

    An individual who wears tartan (etymology 1, noun sense 1.2); specifically, a Scottish Highlander, or a Scottish person (chiefly a Scotsman) in general.

  5. 5

    A type of fly used in fly fishing, often to catch salmon.

  6. 6

    UKA young person who is a member of a Protestant gang in Northern Ireland.

  7. 7

    Preceded by the: a group of people customarily wearing tartan; Scottish Highlanders or Scottish people collectively; also, the soldiers of a Scottish Highland regiment collectively.

  8. 8

    Originally a trade name in the form Tartan: a synthetic resin used for surfacing ramps, running tracks, etc.

  9. 9

    A type of one-masted vessel with a lateen sail and a foresail, used in the Mediterranean.

adjective

  1. 1

    Made of tartan (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1), or having a distinctive pattern of coloured stripes intersecting at right angles like a that of a tartan.

  2. 2

    Of or relating to Scotland, its culture, or people; Scottish.

verb

  1. 1

    To clothe (someone) in tartan (noun etymology 1, noun sense 1.2).

  2. 2

    To apply a tartan pattern to (something).

  3. 3

    To make (something) Scottish, or more Scottish; to tartanize.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Tartan in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchtartan (woven woollen fabric with a distinctive pattern…), tartane (type of one-masted vessel with a lateen sail…)
GermanTartan (woven woollen fabric with a distinctive pattern…), Schottenkaro (pattern used on such fabric)
Portuguesetartã (woven woollen fabric with a distinctive pattern…), tartana (type of one-masted vessel with a lateen sail…)
Spanishtartán (woven woollen fabric with a distinctive pattern…), tartana (type of one-masted vessel with a lateen sail…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does tartan come from?

The noun is an unadapted borrowing from Scots tartan, from Old Scots tartane, tertane, probably from Old French tertaine, tiretaine (“cloth of wool mixed with cotton or linen”), probably from tiret (“kind of precious cloth”) + -aine modelled after futaine (“woven cloth made from cotton mixed with linen or silk”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after tartan