What is "turk"

Plum \Plum\, n. [AS. pl[=u]me, fr. L. prunum; akin to Gr. ?, ?. Cf. Prune a dried plum.]

1. (Bot.) The edible drupaceous fruit of the Prunus domestica, and of several other species of Prunus; also, the tree itself, usually called plum tree.

   The bullace, the damson, and the numerous varieties of plum, of our gardens, although growing into thornless trees, are believed to be varieties of the blackthorn, produced by long cultivation.
   --G. Bentham.

   Note: Two or three hundred varieties of plums derived from the Prunus domestica are described; among them the greengage, the Orleans, the purple gage, or Reine Claude Violette, and the German prune, are some of the best known.

   Note: Among the true plums are;

   Beach plum, the Prunus maritima, and its crimson or purple globular drupes,

   Bullace plum. See Bullace.

   Chickasaw plum, the American Prunus Chicasa, and its round red drupes.

   Orleans plum, a dark reddish purple plum of medium size, much grown in England for sale in the markets.

   Wild plum of America, Prunus Americana, with red or yellow fruit, the original of the Iowa plum and several other varieties. [1913 Webster] Among plants called plum, but of other genera than Prunus, are;

   Australian plum, Cargillia arborea and Cargillia australis, of the same family with the persimmon.

   Blood plum, the West African H[ae]matostaphes Barteri.

   Cocoa plum, the Spanish nectarine. See under Nectarine.

   Date plum. See under Date.

   Gingerbread plum, the West African Parinarium macrophyllum.

   Gopher plum, the Ogeechee lime.

   Gray plum, Guinea plum. See under Guinea.

   Indian plum, several species of Flacourtia.

2. A grape dried in the sun; a raisin.

3. A handsome fortune or property; formerly, in cant language, the sum of [pounds]100,000 sterling; also, the person possessing it.

4. Something likened to a plum in desirableness; a good or choice thing of its kind, as among appointments, positions, parts of a book, etc.; as, the mayor rewarded his cronies with cushy plums, requiring little work for handsome pay

5. A color resembling that of a plum; a slightly grayish deep purple, varying somewhat in its red or blue tint.

   Plum bird, Plum budder (Zo["o]l.), the European bullfinch.

   Plum gouger (Zo["o]l.), a weevil, or curculio ( Coccotorus scutellaris), which destroys plums. It makes round holes in the pulp, for the reception of its eggs. The larva bores into the stone and eats the kernel.

   Plum weevil (Zo["o]l.), an American weevil which is very destructive to plums, nectarines, cherries, and many other stone fruits. It lays its eggs in crescent-shaped incisions made with its jaws. The larva lives upon the pulp around the stone. Called also turk, and plum curculio. See Illust. under Curculio.

c.1300, from French Turc, from Medieval Latin Turcus, from Byzantine Greek Tourkos, Persian turk, a national name, of unknown origin. Said to mean "strength" in Turkish. Compare Chinese tu-kin, recorded from c.177 B.C.E. as the name of a people living south of the Altai Mountains (identified by some with the Huns). In Persian, turk, in addition to the national name, also could mean "a beautiful youth," "a barbarian," "a robber."\n

\nIn English, the Ottoman sultan was the Grand Turk (late 15c.), and the Turk was used collectively for the Turkish people or for Ottoman power (late 15c.). From 14c. and especially 16c.-18c. Turk could mean "a Muslim," reflecting the Turkish political power's status in the Western mind as the Muslim nation par excellence. Hence Turkery "Islam" (1580s); turn Turk "convert to Islam."\n

\nMeaning "person of Irish descent" is first recorded 1914 in U.S., apparently originating among Irish-Americans; of unknown origin (Irish torc "boar, hog" has been suggested). Young Turk (1908) was a member of an early 20c. political group in the Ottoman Empire that sought rejuvenation of the Turkish nation. Turkish bath is attested from 1640s; Turkish delight from 1877.

Turk or Turks most often refers to :

• Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups that speak languages belonging to the Turkic language family
• Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group that belong to the Oghuz branch and live in Turkey
• Turkish citizens, all citizens of the Republic of Turkey, irrespective of ethnicity

The terms may also refer to:

Tab Virgil, Jr. (born 1981), better known by his stage name Turk (sometimes "Young Turk" or "Lil Turk"), is an American rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. He is best known for his time with Cash Money Records and with the Hot Boys.

The Turk are a Muslim community found in the Terai region of the states of Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh in India.

Turk or Türk is a surname.

Those bearing it include:

• Ahmet Türk (born 1942), Kurdish politician
• Alex Türk (born 1950), French politician
• Alexander Turk (1906–1988), Canadian politician
• Brian Turk, American actor
• Dan Turk (1962–2000), American football player
• Daniel Gottlob Türk (1756–1813), German musician
• Danilo Türk (born 1952), Slovenian politician
• Dilara Türk (born 1996), Turkish-German women's footballer
• Frank Turk (c. 1818–1887), American jurist & entrepreneur
• Gavin Turk (born 1967), British artist
• Gerd Türk, German singer
• Godwin Turk (born 1950), American football player
• Greg Turk, American-born computer scientist & academic
• Gordon Turk, American musician
• Hanan Turk (born 1971), Egyptian actress & dancer
• Hasan Türk (born 1993), Turkish footballer
• James Clinton Turk (born 1923), American jurist
• Matt Turk (born 1968), American football player
• M. K. Turk (born 1942), American basketball coach
• Neil Turk (born 1983), English cricketer
• Rifaat Turk (born 1954), Israeli football player
• Roy Turk (1892–1934), American songwriter
• Samuel Turk (1917–2009), American religious leader
• Trina Turk, fashion model
• Tommy Turk (1927–1981), American musician
• William Turk (fl. c. 1900), American musician
• Željko Turk (born 1962), Croatian politician
• Mahir Yılmaz Türk (born 2003)

Turk or The Turk is a nickname for:

• Turk Broda (1914–72), Canadian National Hockey League player
• Carolina Duer (born 1978), Argentine world champion boxer
• Turk Lown (born 1924), American former Major League Baseball pitcher
• Turk McBride (born 1985), American National Football League player
• Derek Sanderson (born 1946), Canadian retired National Hockey League player
• Raymond Westerling (1919–87), Royal Netherlands East Indies Army officer who attempted a 1950 coup against the Indonesian government, nicknamed "The Turk"
• a resident of Faymonville, Belgium
• a resident of Llanelli, Wales