Tartan
noun
Checked or striped cloth, mainly associated with Scottish culture.
She wore a beautiful tartan dress to the Scottish festival.
Often appears as...
- tartan pattern
- tartan kilt
noun
Pattern associated with the checked or striped cloth.
The Scottish clan MacGregor has its own distinctive tartan.
Often appears as...
- clan tartan
- family tartan
adjective
Describing something with a checked or striped pattern similar to tartan cloth.
He's wearing tartan trousers today.
Often appears as...
- tartan scarf
- tartan blanket
noun
Checked or striped cloth, mainly associated with Scottish culture.
She wore a beautiful tartan dress to the Scottish festival.
Often appears as...
- tartan pattern
- tartan kilt
noun
Pattern associated with the checked or striped cloth.
The Scottish clan MacGregor has its own distinctive tartan.
Often appears as...
- clan tartan
- family tartan
adjective
Describing something with a checked or striped pattern similar to tartan cloth.
He's wearing tartan trousers today.
Often appears as...
- tartan scarf
- tartan blanket
Definition 1 of 3
Pro Tip 1/3Cultural Identity
Tartans can signify the wearer's Scottish clan, showing cultural heritage and pride.
Each clan in Scotland, like the MacDonalds, has its own tartan associated with family history.
Pro Tip 2/3Not Always Scottish
While strongly linked to Scotland, tartan patterns are used worldwide in various designs.
Despite its origin, you'll find tartan designs in fashion collections across the globe.
Pro Tip 3/3Special Occasions
Tartan is often worn at formal Scottish events, like weddings and Highland games.
At the gathering, dignitaries wore tartan sashes to highlight the special occasion.
Compare with
checkginghamplaidstrip
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Video examples
Tim Harford: Trial,...
because you have to count all the whisky and the tartan. If you wanted to count every product and service on offer in New York -- there are 10 billion of them -- it would take you 317 years. This is how complex the economy we've created is. And I'm just counting toasters here.
Video examples
Tim Harford: Trial,...
because you have to count all the whisky and the tartan. If you wanted to count every product and service on offer in New York -- there are 10 billion of them -- it would take you 317 years. This is how complex the economy we've created is. And I'm just counting toasters here.
Example 1 of 1
Quote examples
Zoe Ball
I remember cream cheese in celery, with a sprinkling of paprika, served at my dad and stepmum's 'soirees' in the 70s, where people danced to Slade in long tartan dresses. I'd go down and eat the cheese cubes left over from cheese and pineapple on sticks, because guests would only eat the pineapple.
Quote examples
Adrian Dunbar
Irish Actor
We lived in this ghetto during the worst excesses of the Seventies. When the tartan gangs came to wreck our estate, we had to defend it. We were barricaded in with diggers and earth-movers. It wasn't a case of joining the Republican cause, or the IRA - we were fighting for our very existence.
Quote examples
Matthew Williamson
British Designer
I got my fair share of stick. But I surrounded myself with fabulous girls, and they all loved me because I made them clothes. I remember making them all leopard print tops and tartan skirts for a party we went to once. It's scary to think about it now, actually.
Quote examples
Diana Gabaldon
American Author
There's not a lot of pictorial evidence from the Highlands, because only the very wealthy had their portraits painted - but there is one well-known painting of the two sons of the Duke of Argyll, wearing tartan.
Quote examples
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
American Actor
I have lots of Scottish blood and know that my family name is Scottish. At my home in the States I have a tartan crest but, unfortunately, I do a terrible Scottish accent.
Quote examples
Ronnie Barker
English Comedian
We had hoped to have been bringing you Arthur the Human Chameleon, but this afternoon, he crawled across a tartan rug and died of exhaustion.
Quote examples
Ronnie Corbett
Scottish Comedian
If I wear too much tartan, I tend to look like a Thermos flask.
Quote examples
Zoe Ball
I remember cream cheese in celery, with a sprinkling of paprika, served at my dad and stepmum's 'soirees' in the 70s, where people danced to Slade in long tartan dresses. I'd go down and eat the cheese cubes left over from cheese and pineapple on sticks, because guests would only eat the pineapple.
Quote examples
Adrian Dunbar
Irish Actor
We lived in this ghetto during the worst excesses of the Seventies. When the tartan gangs came to wreck our estate, we had to defend it. We were barricaded in with diggers and earth-movers. It wasn't a case of joining the Republican cause, or the IRA - we were fighting for our very existence.
Quote examples
Matthew Williamson
British Designer
I got my fair share of stick. But I surrounded myself with fabulous girls, and they all loved me because I made them clothes. I remember making them all leopard print tops and tartan skirts for a party we went to once. It's scary to think about it now, actually.
Quote examples
Diana Gabaldon
American Author
There's not a lot of pictorial evidence from the Highlands, because only the very wealthy had their portraits painted - but there is one well-known painting of the two sons of the Duke of Argyll, wearing tartan.
Quote examples
Jesse Tyler Ferguson
American Actor
I have lots of Scottish blood and know that my family name is Scottish. At my home in the States I have a tartan crest but, unfortunately, I do a terrible Scottish accent.
Quote examples
Ronnie Barker
English Comedian
We had hoped to have been bringing you Arthur the Human Chameleon, but this afternoon, he crawled across a tartan rug and died of exhaustion.
Quote examples
Ronnie Corbett
Scottish Comedian
If I wear too much tartan, I tend to look like a Thermos flask.
Example 1 of 7
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