Webster's English Dictionary

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tartar

1. tar.tar \'ta:rt-*r\ n [ME, fr. ML tartarum] 1: a substance consisting 
   essentially of cream of tartar found in the juice  of grapes and deposited 
   in wine casks together with yeast and other suspended matters as a pale or 
   dark reddish crust or sediment; esp : a recrystallized product yielding 
   cream of tartar on further purification 2: an incrustation on the teeth 
   consisting of salivary secretion, food resi due, and various salts (as 
   calcium carbonate or phosphate)
2. tartar \ta:r-'tar-e--*n, -'ter-\ n [ME Tartre, fr. MF Tartare, prob. fr. 
   ML Tartarus, modif. of]Per Ta-ta-r - more at TATAR cap  1: native or 
   inhabitant of Tatary  cap  2: TATAR  often cap  3: a person of irritable or 
   violent temper  4: an unexpectedly formidable person  - tartar aj