What is "turkey"

Turkey \Tur"key\, n. [Cf. 2d Turkey.] An empire in the southeast of Europe and southwest of Asia. Turkey carpet, a superior kind of carpet made in Asia Minor and adjoining countries, having a deep pile and composed of pure wool with a weft of different material. It is distinguishable by its coloring and patterns from similar carpets made in India and elsewhere. Turkey oak. (Bot.) See Cerris. Turkey red.

1. A brilliant red imparted by madder to cottons, calicoes, etc., the fiber of which has been prepared previously with oil or other fatty matter.

2. Cloth dyed with this red.

   Turkey sponge. (Zo["o]l.) See Toilet sponge, under Sponge.

   Turkey stone, a kind of oilstone from Turkey; novaculite; -- called also Turkey oilstone.

Turkey \Tur"key\, n.; pl. Turkeys. [So called because it was formerly erroneously believed that it came originally from Turkey: cf. F. Turquie Turkey. See Turk.] (Zo["o]l.) Any large American gallinaceous bird belonging to the genus Meleagris, especially the North American wild turkey ( Meleagris gallopavo), and the domestic turkey, which was probably derived from the Mexican wild turkey, but had been domesticated by the Indians long before the discovery of America.

Note: The Mexican wild turkey is now considered a variety of the northern species (var. Mexicana). Its tall feathers and coverts are tipped with white instead of brownish chestnut, and its flesh is white. The Central American, or ocellated, turkey ( Meleagris ocellata) is more elegantly colored than the common species. See under Ocellated. The Australian, or native, turkey is a bustard ( Choriotis australis). See under Native.

Turkey beard (Bot.), a name of certain American perennial liliaceous herbs of the genus Xerophyllum. They have a dense tuft of hard, narrowly linear radical leaves, and a long raceme of small whitish flowers. Also called turkey's beard.

Turkey berry (Bot.), a West Indian name for the fruit of certain kinds of nightshade ( Solanum mammosum, and Solanum torvum).

Turkey bird (Zo["o]l.), the wryneck. So called because it erects and ruffles the feathers of its neck when disturbed. [Prov. Eng.]

Turkey buzzard (Zo["o]l.), a black or nearly black buzzard ( Cathartes aura), abundant in the Southern United States. It is so called because its naked and warty head and neck resemble those of a turkey. Its is noted for its high and graceful flight. Called also turkey vulture.

Turkey cock (Zo["o]l.), a male turkey.

Turkey hen (Zo["o]l.), a female turkey.

Turkey pout (Zo["o]l.), a young turkey. [R.]

Turkey vulture (Zo["o]l.), the turkey buzzard.

country name, late 14c., from Medieval Latin Turchia, from Turcus (see Turk) + -ia.

1540s, originally "guinea fowl" (Numida meleagris), a bird imported from Madagascar via Turkey, and called guinea fowl when brought by Portuguese traders from West Africa. The larger North American bird (Meleagris gallopavo) was domesticated by the Aztecs, introduced to Spain by conquistadors (1523) and thence to wider Europe. The word turkey first was applied to it in English 1550s because it was identified with or treated as a species of the guinea fowl, and/or because it got to the rest of Europe from Spain by way of North Africa, then under Ottoman (Turkish) rule. Indian corn was originally turkey corn or turkey wheat in English for the same reason.\n

\nThe Turkish name for it is hindi, literally "Indian," probably influenced by Middle French dinde (c.1600, contracted from poulet d'inde, literally "chicken from India," Modern French dindon), based on the then-common misconception that the New World was eastern Asia.\n\nAfter the two birds were distinguished and the names differentiated, turkey was erroneously retained for the American bird, instead of the African. From the same imperfect knowledge and confusion Melagris, the ancient name of the African fowl, was unfortunately adopted by Linnæus as the generic name of the American bird.

[OED]

\nThe New World bird itself reputedly reached England by 1524 at the earliest estimate, though a date in the 1530s seems more likely. The wild turkey, the North American form of the bird, was so called from 1610s. By 1575, turkey was becoming the usual main course at an English Christmas. Meaning "inferior show, failure," is 1927 in show business slang, probably from the bird's reputation for stupidity. Meaning "stupid, ineffectual person" is recorded from 1951. Turkey shoot "something easy" is World War II-era, in reference to marksmanship contests where turkeys were tied behind a log with their heads showing as targets. To talk turkey (1824) supposedly comes from an old tale of a Yankee attempting to swindle an Indian in dividing up a turkey and a buzzard as food.

n. 1 Either of two species of bird in the genus ''Meleagris'' with fan-shaped tails and wattled necks. 2 (context UK English) The guinea fowl (''Numida meleagris''). (from c. 1600) 3 (context colloquial English) A failure. 4 (context slang usually mildly derogatory English) A foolish or inept person. 5 (context bowling English) An act of throwing three strikes in a row.

1. n. large gallinaceous bird with fan-shaped tail; widely domesticated for food [syn: Meleagris gallopavo]

2. a Eurasian republic in Asia Minor and the Balkans; achieved independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1923 [syn: Republic of Turkey]

3. a person who does something thoughtless or annoying; "some joker is blocking the driveway" [syn: joker]

4. flesh of large domesticated fowl usually roasted

5. an event that fails badly or is totally ineffectual; "the first experiment was a real turkey"; "the meeting was a dud as far as new business was concerned" [syn: bomb, dud]

6. wild turkey of Central America and northern South America [syn: ocellated turkey, Agriocharis ocellata]

Turkey is a country in Eurasia.

Turkey may also refer to:

The turkey is a large bird in the genus Meleagris, which is native to the Americas. One species, Meleagris gallopavo (commonly known as the domestic turkey or wild turkey), is native to the forests of North America, mainly Mexico and the United States. The other living species is Meleagris ocellata or the ocellated turkey, native to the forests of the Yucatán Peninsula. Males of both turkey species have a distinctive fleshy wattle or protuberance that hangs from the top of the beak (called a snood). They are among the largest birds in their ranges. As in many galliformes, the male is larger and much more colorful than the female.

Turkey (; ), officially the Republic of Turkey (Turkish: ; ), is a parliamentary republic in Eurasia, mainly on the Anatolian peninsula in Western Asia, with a smaller portion on the Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. Turkey is a democratic, secular, unitary, constitutional republic with a diverse cultural heritage.

Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Syria and Iraq to the south; Iran, Armenia, and the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan to the east; Georgia to the northeast; Bulgaria to the northwest; and Greece to the west. The Black Sea is to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and the Aegean Sea to the west. The Bosphorus, the Sea of Marmara, and the Dardanelles, which together form the Turkish Straits, divide Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia. Turkey's location between Europe and Asia makes it strategically important.

Turkey has been inhabited since the Paleolithic by various ancient Anatolian civilizations, as well as Assyrians, Greeks, Thracians, Phrygians, Urartians and Armenians. After Alexander the Great's conquest, the area was Hellenized, a process which continued under the Roman Empire and its transition into the Byzantine Empire. The Seljuk Turks began migrating into the area in the 11th century, starting the process of Turkification, which was accelerated by the Seljuk victory over the Byzantines at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071. The Seljuk Sultanate of Rûm ruled Anatolia until the Mongol invasion in 1243, when it disintegrated into small Turkish beyliks.

In the mid 14th century the Ottomans started uniting Anatolia and created an empire encompassing much of Southeastern Europe, Western Asia and North Africa, becoming a major power in Eurasia and Africa during the early modern period. The empire reached the peak of its power in the 16th century, especially during the reign (1520–1566) of Suleiman the Magnificent. After the second Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683 and the end of the Great Turkish War in 1699, the Ottoman Empire entered a long period of decline. The Tanzimat reforms of the 19th century, which aimed to modernize the Ottoman state, proved to be inadequate in most fields, and failed to stop the dissolution of the empire.

Effectively controlled by the Three Pashas after the 1913 coup d'état, the Ottoman Empire entered World War I (1914–1918) on the side of the Central Powers and was ultimately defeated. During the war, the Ottoman government committed ethnic cleansing or genocide against its Armenian, Assyrian and Pontic Greek citizens. Following the war, the conglomeration of territories and peoples that formerly comprised the Ottoman Empire was divided into several new states.

The Turkish War of Independence (1919–1922), initiated by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk and his colleagues in Anatolia, resulted in the establishment of the modern Republic of Turkey in 1923, with Atatürk as its first president.

Turkey's official language is Turkish, a Turkic language, spoken by 85% of the population. 72.5% of the population are ethnic Turks; and 27.5% are legally recognized ( Armenians, Greeks, Jews) and unrecognized ( Kurds, Circassians, Arabs, Albanians, Bosniaks, Georgians, etc.) ethnic minorities. Kurds are the largest minority group. The vast majority of the population is Sunni Muslim, with Alevis making up the largest religious minority.

Turkey is a charter member of the UN, early member of NATO, and a founding member of the OECD, OSCE, OIC and G-20. After becoming one of the first members of the Council of Europe in 1949, Turkey became an associate member of the EEC in 1963, applied for full EEC membership in 1987, joined the EU Customs Union in 1995 and started accession negotiations with the European Union in 2005. Turkey's growing economy and diplomatic initiatives have led to its recognition as a regional power.