Meanings
tar1
plural tars
- A black, oil, sticky, viscous substance, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons derived from organic materials such as wood, peat, or coal.
- countabledatedslanguncountableA sailor (because of the traditional tarpaulin clothes).
If there's one man that I admire, that man's a British tar.
1915, W. McMann, “Our Picture Show”, in Western Evening Herald2 more examples
Shines in all climates like a star; In senates bold, and fierce in war; A land commander, and a tar.
1723, Jonathan Swift, To Charles Mordaunt, Earl of Peterborougha ruminating tar was[…]adorning [the wooden settle] with his jack-knife,[…]trying his hand at a ship under full sail.
1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick - abbreviationellipsisuncountableEllipsis of black tar heroin.
present singular third person tars · participle present tarring · participle past tarred · past tarred
- transitiveTo coat with tar.
- transitiveTo besmirch.
The allegations tarred his name, even though he was found innocent.
1 more example
Dr. Sign: In fact, maybe you think I should get credit, but if I do, Dr. Frendall will be scorned. You know why Dr. Ellsworth: Yes, I know. Your critics will tar him with the same brush as you.
1995, Paul Robinson, The Gate Contracts
tar2
present singular third person tars · participle present tarring · participle past tarred · past tarred
- transitivecomputingTo create a tar archive.
tar3
- A Persian long-necked, waisted string instrument, shared by many cultures and countries in the Middle East and the Caucasus.
1 more example
MOHAMMAD REZA SHAJARIAN (Thursday) Renowned in his native Iran, the vocalist Mohammad Reza Shajarian has been performing since the 1960s, and is now widely considered one of the finest classical Persian singers in the world. Mr. Shajarian’s son, Homayoun Shajarian, will provide additional vocals and tombak (goblet drum), while Ensemble Ava, a four-piece, will contribute additional instrumentation on the ancient Persian instruments barbat (short-necked lute), tar (long-necked lute), kamancheh (spike fiddle) and daf (frame drum).
2008 May 30, The New York Times, “Pop and Rock Listings”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 09 Apr 2022
tar4
plural tars
- A single-headed round frame drum originating in North Africa and the Middle East.
tar5
TAR6
- abbreviationinitialismsometimesInitialism of Tibet Autonomous Region, an administrative region of China.
Tar7
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA sailor (because of the traditional tarpaulin clothes).
More synonyms by meaning
nouna man who serves as a sailor
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
tar · noun, verb
- Proto-Indo-European*derwo-
- Proto-Germanic*terwą
- Proto-West Germanic*teru
- Old Englishteoru
- Middle Englishter
- Englishtar
PIE word *dóru Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dóruder. Proto-Germanic *terwą Old English teoru Middle English ter English tar From Middle English ter, terr, tarr, from Old English teoru, from Proto-West Germanic *teru, from Proto-Germanic *terwą, from Proto-Indo-European *derwo-, from *dóru (“tree”). See also Saterland Frisian Taar, West Frisian tarre, tar, Dutch teer, German Teer; also Welsh derw (“oaks”), Lithuanian dervà (“pinewood, resin”), Russian де́рево (dérevo, “tree”), Bulgarian дърво́ (dărvó, “tree”). More at tree.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →tar · noun
- Persianتار
- Englishtar
Borrowed from Persian تار (târ). Doublet of tantra.
More words from Persian
Full word history & related roots →tar · noun
- Arabicطار
- Arabicطار
- Englishtar
Borrowed from Arabic طار (ṭār).
More words from Arabic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic قَطْرَان
- قَطْرَان (qaṭrān)substance
Basque mundrun
- mundrunsubstance
Bulgarian смола́, катра́н
- смола́ (smolá)coal tar
- катра́н (katrán)substance
Catalan quitrà de carbó, quitrà
- quitrà de carbócoal tar
- quitràbyproduct of tobacco smoke
- quitràsubstance
- enquitranarto coat with tar
Chinese Mandarin 焦油, 焦油
- 焦油 (jiāoyóu)byproduct of tobacco smoke
- 焦油 (jiāoyóu)substance
Czech uhelný dehet, dehet
- uhelný dehetcoal tar
- dehetbyproduct of tobacco smoke
- dehetsubstance
Danish tjære, tjære
- tjæresubstance
- tjæreto coat with tar
Dutch koolteer, teer
- koolteercoal tar
- teerbyproduct of tobacco smoke
- teersubstance
Esperanto gudro, gudro
- gudrocoal tar
- gudrobyproduct of tobacco smoke
- gudrosubstance
- gudrito coat with tar
Estonian tõrv, tõrv
- tõrvbyproduct of tobacco smoke
- tõrvsubstance
- tõrvamato coat with tar
Finnish kivihiiliterva, terva
- kivihiilitervacoal tar
- tervabyproduct of tobacco smoke
- pikipöksysailor
- tervasubstance
- tervatato coat with tar
- tarPersian musical instrument
French goudron, goudron
- goudronbyproduct of tobacco smoke
- goudronsubstance
German Teer, Teerjacke
- Teerbyproduct of tobacco smoke
- Teerjackesailor
- Teersubstance
- teerento coat with tar
Greek πίσσα, πίσσα
- πίσσα (píssa)coal tar
- πίσσα (píssa)byproduct of tobacco smoke
- πίσσα (píssa)substance
- κατράμι (katrámi)substance
- πισσώνω (pissóno)to coat with tar
Hebrew זֶפֶת, זִפֵּת
- זֶפֶת (zéfet)substance
- זִפֵּת (zipét)to coat with tar
Hindi तारकोल
- तारकोल (tārkol)substance
Hungarian kátrány
- kátránysubstance
Icelandic tjara, tjara
- tjaracoal tar
- tjarabyproduct of tobacco smoke
- sjóarisailor
- sjómaðursailor
- tjarasubstance
- tjargato coat with tar
- tar-skráa file produced by an archiving program
Irish tarra, tarráil
- tarrasubstance
- tarráilto coat with tar
- tarra a chur arto coat with tar
Italian catrame, catrame
- catramecoal tar
- catramebyproduct of tobacco smoke
- marinaiosailor
- catramesubstance
- bitumesubstance
- catramareto coat with tar
- incatramareto coat with tar
- calafatareto coat with tar
- bitumareto coat with tar
Japanese 脂, 乾留液
- 脂 (yani)byproduct of tobacco smoke
- 乾留液 (kanryūeki)substance
- タール (tāru)substance
Korean 수지, 타르
- 수지 (suji)substance
- 타르 (tareu)substance
Latin pix
- pixcoal tar
Latvian darva
- darvasubstance
Lithuanian dervà, degùtas
- dervàsubstance
- degùtassubstance
Māori tā, tā
- tācoal tar
- tābyproduct of tobacco smoke
- tāsubstance
Norwegian Bokmål tjære, tjære
- tjærebyproduct of tobacco smoke
- tjæresubstance
Persian قطران, تار
- قطران (qatrân)coal tar
- تار (târ)Persian musical instrument
Polish smoła, smoła
- smołacoal tar
- smołabyproduct of tobacco smoke
- dziegiećsubstance
- smołasubstance
Portuguese alcatrão, alcatrão
- alcatrãocoal tar
- alcatrãobyproduct of tobacco smoke
- marujosailor
- alcatrãosubstance
- alcatroarto coat with tar
- tara file produced by an archiving program
Romanian gudron
- gudronsubstance
Russian смола́, каменноу́гольная смола́
- смола́ (smolá)coal tar
- каменноу́гольная смола́ (kamennoúgolʹnaja smolá)coal tar
- смола́ (smolá)byproduct of tobacco smoke
- дёготь (djógotʹ)substance
- гудро́н (gudrón)substance
- смола́ (smolá)substance
- ма́зать дёгтем (mázatʹ djógtem)to coat with tar
- тар (tar)Persian musical instrument
Scottish Gaelic teàrr, bìth
- teàrrcoal tar
- bìthcoal tar
- teàrrsubstance
- bìthsubstance
Slovak smola, decht
- smolacoal tar
- dechtsubstance
Spanish alquitrán, chapopote bituminoso
- alquitráncoal tar
- chapopote bituminosocoal tar
- chapopote hullerocoal tar
- alquitrán carbonosocoal tar
- alquitránbyproduct of tobacco smoke
- alquitránsubstance
- galipotesubstance
- chapopotesubstance
- chapapotesubstance
- alquitranarto coat with tar
Swedish tjära, tjära
- tjäracoal tar
- tjärabyproduct of tobacco smoke
- beckbyxasailor
- tjärasubstance
- tjärato coat with tar
Tagalog ayangaw, alkitran
- ayangawsubstance
- alkitransubstance
Tamil தார்
- தார் (tār)substance
Thai น้ำมันดิน
- น้ำมันดิน (nám-man-din)substance
Turkish katran, katranlamak
- katransubstance
- katranlamakto coat with tar
- tarPersian musical instrument
Ukrainian смола́, дьо́готь
- смола́ (smolá)coal tar
- дьо́готь (dʹóhotʹ)substance
- гудро́н (hudrón)substance
- смола́ (smolá)substance
Urdu تارْکول
- تارْکول (tārkol)substance
Vietnamese hắc ín
- hắc ínsubstance
Welsh dyn môr, tar
- dyn môrsailor
- tarsubstance
Yiddish פּעך
- פּעך (pekh)substance
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with tar
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Anagrams
Cite this entry
tar. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tar
“tar.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tar. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tar,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tar.
Source: tar on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.