green turtle
1
3.9
- noun
- /ɡrin ˈtɜrtl/
:
tortuga verde
- Green turtle sitting by a hole in the wall, looking at the deep blue sea.
Examples
-
The U.S. population of green turtles in Florida is currently on the endangered species list.
Academic text (1994) -
A huge green turtle, nicknamed Zyanya by researchers, makes a stop in her lengthy circuit around the Gulf of Mexico.
Academic text (2002) -
- So that green turtle soup is fantastic.
-
How else would I have won that fine green turtle I brought to your house for soup?
Fiction book (1994) -
Between them, on the red brick floor, was a large green turtle.
Fiction book (1994) -
Researchers are tracking green turtles by satellite in the Gulf of Mexico.
Academic text (2002) -
The green turtle landings from Monroe County were originally from turtles captured in the Florida Keys.
Academic text (1994) -
The green turtle was originally the main target species, but there were also considerable landings of loggerheads as the greens became scarce in Florida waters.
Academic text (1994) -
Trade in wildlife products threatens the survival of jaguars, ocelots, crocodiles, caimans, and hawksbill and green turtles.
Academic text (1990) -
The U.S. population of green turtles in Florida is currently on the endangered species list.
Synonyms
385
1.0
An animal with a hard shell that lives in water or on land
18
2.5
A large turtle that lives in the sea and uses flippers to swim
A large sea turtle with green flesh that lives in warm tropical oceans, called the green turtle
A large sea animal with a hard shell and flippers that lives in warm oceans
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'green' (a color) modifies 'turtle' (an animal), so a B1 learner who knows both words can infer it refers to a turtle that is green or greenish. Color + noun compounds are cross-linguistically common and follow standard English formation, making the species name immediately understandable even if it denotes a specific turtle.
Etymology
The name green turtle comes from the greenish colour of its fat and meat. People who cooked or saw the animal noticed the olive-coloured meat and called it a green turtle, so today the name means the large tropical sea turtle with a greenish shell and meat.