Plural of turtle: shelled reptiles with four legs that live on land or in water, able to pull their head and body inside their shell.
From French 'tortue,' possibly from Portuguese 'tartaruga.' The ultimate origin may be onomatopoetic or from Sanskrit 'kacchapa.' The exact path is unclear but the word traveled through Romance languages.
The English word 'turtle' traveled from Sanskrit through Portuguese and French before reaching English—when people explore new oceans, their animal names come along! This is why many sea creature names come from European colonial languages.
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