Meanings
plural turtle doves · alternative turtle-dove · alternative turtledove
- Any of several (species of) birds, called by this traditional name, mainly in the genus Streptopelia, of the family Columbidae (doves and pigeons, which also included the extinct passenger pigeon, dodo, and solitaire).
- A lover, one half of a couple.
Out for their evening constitutional. A lovely pair of turtledoves. Around the jolly corner, and off to the park.
1961, 101 Dalmatians1 more example
[…] and then on a common impulse this curiously simple pair of habitual criminals were in each other's arms and exchanging fond kisses for all the world like honest lovers. "Hullo, turtle doves," remarked Nickle, stumbling in upon this idyll and accepting it with saving coolness.
1934, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], The Bravo of London
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Latinturtur“turtledove”
- Middle Englishturtildove
- Englishturtle dove
From Middle English turtildove, turteldoufe (cognate with Old High German turtultūba, turtulatūba, turtiltūba, Middle High German turteltūbe, türteltūbe, German Turteltaube; German Low German Turtelduuv, Dutch tortelduif, Faroese turtildúgva, Icelandic turtildúfa), Danish turteldue, Norwegian Bokmål turteldue, Norwegian Nynorsk turteldue, Swedish turturduva. The first element is from Latin turtur (“turtledove”) (compare the archaic synonym turtle (“turtle dove (bird)”); the word is not related to turtle (“reptile with a shell”).
More words from Middle English, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans tortelduif, tortelduif
- tortelduifbird in the genus Streptopelia
- tortelduiflover, one half of a couple
Ancient Greek τρυγών, τρυγόνιον
- τρυγών (trugṓn)bird in the genus Streptopelia
- τρυγόνιον (trugónion)bird in the genus Streptopelia
Arabic تُرْغُلَّة
- تُرْغُلَّة (turḡulla)bird in the genus Streptopelia
Basque usapal
- usapalbird in the genus Streptopelia
Bulgarian гургули́ца
- гургули́ца (gurgulíca)bird in the genus Streptopelia
Catalan tórtora
- tórtorabird in the genus Streptopelia
Chinese Mandarin 斑鳩 /斑鸠, 歐斑鳩 /欧斑鸠
- 斑鳩 /斑鸠 (bānjiū)bird in the genus Streptopelia
- 歐斑鳩 /欧斑鸠 (ōubānjiū)bird in the genus Streptopelia
Czech hrdlička
- hrdličkabird in the genus Streptopelia
Danish turteldue
- turtelduebird in the genus Streptopelia
Dutch tortelduif, tortel
- tortelduifbird in the genus Streptopelia
- tortelbird in the genus Streptopelia
Esperanto turto, turtino
- turtobird in the genus Streptopelia
- turtinobird in the genus Streptopelia
Estonian turteltuvi
- turteltuvibird in the genus Streptopelia
Finnish turturikyyhky
- turturikyyhkybird in the genus Streptopelia
French tourterelle
- tourterellebird in the genus Streptopelia
German Turteltaube, Turteltaube
- Turteltaubebird in the genus Streptopelia
- Turteltaubelover, one half of a couple
Greek τριγόνι
- τριγόνι (trigóni)bird in the genus Streptopelia
Hebrew ימימה
- ימימה (Yemîmâ)bird in the genus Streptopelia
Hungarian vadgerle, gerle
- vadgerlebird in the genus Streptopelia
- gerlebird in the genus Streptopelia
Icelandic turtildúfa
- turtildúfabird in the genus Streptopelia
Irish fearán
- fearánbird in the genus Streptopelia
Italian tortora
- tortorabird in the genus Streptopelia
Japanese 山鳩, 子雉鳩
- 山鳩 (yamabato)bird in the genus Streptopelia
- 子雉鳩 (kokijibato)bird in the genus Streptopelia
Latin turtur
- turturbird in the genus Streptopelia
Latvian parastā ūbele, ūbele
- parastā ūbelebird in the genus Streptopelia
- ūbelebird in the genus Streptopelia
Lithuanian purplelis
- purplelisbird in the genus Streptopelia
Norwegian Bokmål turteldue
- turtelduebird in the genus Streptopelia
Norwegian Nynorsk turteldue
- turtelduebird in the genus Streptopelia
Persian یمام, قمری
- یمام (yamâm)bird in the genus Streptopelia
- قمری (qomri)bird in the genus Streptopelia
Polish turkawka
- turkawkabird in the genus Streptopelia
Portuguese rola, rôla
- rolabird in the genus Streptopelia
- rôlabird in the genus Streptopelia
Romanian turturică, turturea
- turturicăbird in the genus Streptopelia
- turtureabird in the genus Streptopelia
Russian го́рлица, го́рлинка
- го́рлица (górlica)bird in the genus Streptopelia
- го́рлинка (górlinka)bird in the genus Streptopelia
Scottish Gaelic calman-tùchan
- calman-tùchanbird in the genus Streptopelia
Slovak hrdlička
- hrdličkabird in the genus Streptopelia
Spanish tórtola
- tórtolabird in the genus Streptopelia
Swahili hua
- huabird in the genus Streptopelia
Swedish turturduva
- turturduvabird in the genus Streptopelia
Tagalog lapati
- lapatibird in the genus Streptopelia
Turkish üveyik
- üveyikbird in the genus Streptopelia
Ukrainian го́рлиця
- го́рлиця (hórlycja)bird in the genus Streptopelia
Welsh turtur
- turturbird in the genus Streptopelia
Yiddish טערקלטויב
- טערקלטויב (terkltoyb)bird in the genus Streptopelia
Cite this entry
turtle dove. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turtle%20dove
“turtle dove.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turtle%20dove. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “turtle dove,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/turtle%20dove.
Source: turtle dove on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.