1. The shell, esp. the upper shell or carapace, of a tortoise, consisting of horny scales covering the dermal skeleton. a. with a and pl.
1601. Holland, Pliny, IX. X. I. 241. Among the Islands principally in the red sea, they use Tortoise shells … for boats and wherries.
1644. Evelyn, Diary, 21 March. Curiosities of ivory and tortoise-shells.
a. 1843. Southey, Common-pl. Bk., Ser. II. (1849), 570. In Yucatan they made a musical instrument of the tortoise-shell, preserved whole.
1863. W. C. Baldwin, Afr. Hunting, 388. A drink of muddy water … out of a dirty tortoise-shell.
b. As a material (without a or pl.): The shell of certain tortoises, esp. that of the hawk’s-bill turtle, Chelone imbricata, which is semi-transparent, with a mottled or clouded coloration, and is extensively used in ornamental work, as inlaying, etc.
1632. Earl of Cork, Diary, in Lismore Papers, Ser. I. (1886), III. 132. A cabbonett of Torties shell.
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, II. 206/1. The Turks have a kind of Tortois-shell … of which they make hafts for Knives.
1703. Dampier, Voy., III. I. 81. The Hawksbill-Turtle … of Brazil is most sought after … for its Shell, which … is the clearest and best-clouded Tortoise-shell in the World.
1756. Mrs. Calderwood, in Coitness Collect. (Maitl. Club), 199. A bit of horn or tortyshell.
1768. Holdsworth, On Virgil, 131. Some of the Romans were so extravagant as to cover their doors and door-cases with Indian tortoise-shell.
1779. Forrest, Voy. N. Guinea, 112. At Krudo, and the islands near it, may be got much tortoiseshell.
1838. Dickens, Nich. Nick., xv. The tortershell would have affected the brain.
1841. Lane, Arab. Nts., I. 123. Made of wood,… inlaid with mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell, etc.
† 2. = TORTOISE 2 a and b. Obs.
a. 1661. Holyday, Juvenal, ii. (1673), 29/2. Like souldiers,… when … they cast themselves … into the military figure of the testudo, or the torteise-shell.
1726. Leoni, Alberti’s Archit., I. 68. The ditch … will hinder the moveable Tortoise-shell … from approaching the wall.
3. Short for (a) tortoise-shell cat, (b) tortoise-shell butterfly: see 4 b.
1840. P. Parley’s Ann., 113. Oh, what a pretty little kitten! what a beautiful little dear tortoiseshell!
1884. Pall Mall G., 12 Aug., 3/2. A splendid specimen of the large tortoise-shell was fluttering about Westminster Bridge.
1903. Westm. Gaz., 11 Aug., 10/2. Of all flowers … that which the Red Admirals, Peacocks, and Tortoiseshells seem to like best is peppermint.
1903. F. Simpson, Bk. Cat, xvii. 208. Real tortoiseshells may be called tricolour cats, for they should bear three colours…, namely black, red, and yellow, in distinct patches or blotches.
4. attrib. or as adj. a. Made of tortoise-shell.
1651. in Verney Mem. (1904), I. 480. His toilet equipment includes … 12 Tortus shell Agendas, 2 gold picktooths.
1652. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. I. 38. Fyue torter shell spoones.
1683. Lond. Gaz., No. 1809/4. A great Tortoise-shell Comb, in a Case of the same. Ibid. (1689), No. 2416/4. A very large Tortoise-shell Tobacco Box.
1836–9. Dickens, Sk. Boz, Doctors’ Commons. A very fat and red-faced gentleman, in tortoise-shell spectacles.
b. Having the coloring or appearance of tortoise-shell; mottled or variegated with black, red, and yellow, or similar colors; spec. tortoise-shell butterfly, one of several butterflies, esp. the European Vanessa urticæ and V. polychlorus, and the American Aglais milberti; tortoise-shell cat, a domestic cat of this color; tortoise-shell goose (see quot. 1885); tortoise-shell palm (see quot. 1902); tortoise-shell tiger (see TIGER sb. 2 b); tortoise-shell ware, a fine kind of pottery colored with oxide of copper and manganese.
1782. W. Curtis, Brown-tail Moth, 6. The Papilio Urticæ, and Iö, small Tortoise-shell and Peacock Butterflies.
1791. Huddesford, Salmag., Monody death Dick, 141. Cats … sable, sandy, grey, and tortoiseshell.
1803. Shaw, Gen. Zool., IV. 471. Tortoise-shell Sparus…: colour brown, with a strong suffusion of pale yellow. Ibid. (1804), V. 444. Tortoise-shell Tetrodon…. The Linnæan name [Tetrodon testudineus] of this fish is supposed to have been given from its tortoise-like beak, but perhaps, with more propriety, from its variegated skin.
1858. Lytton, What will he do, I. xiv. They kept a tortoise-shell cat and a canary.
1885. Swainson, Provinc. Names Birds, 148. White-fronted Goose (Anser albifrons)…. Tortoise-shell goose (Ireland). From the mottled markings on the abdomen.
1902. P. Fountain, Mounts. & Forests S. Amer., x. 270. The tortoise-shell palm … the leaves of which are so hard, and withal flexible, that combs, spoons, and ornamental articles are made of it.
1903. F. Simpson, Bk. Cat, xxv. 284. The tortoiseshell tom is a most rare and uncommon animal.
c. Producing tortoise-shell: tortoise-shell turtle, the hawk’s-bill turtle, or other species from which tortoise-shell is obtained.
1886. Mivart, in Encycl. Brit., XX. 446/2. In the other Chelonians there are large epidermal shields, which may overlap, as in the Tortoise-shell Turtle (C[helonia] imbricata) and others.
5. Comb., as tortoiseshell-producing adj.
1883. W. S. Kent, in A. J. Adderley, Fisheries Bahamas, 31 (Fish. Exhib. Publ.). The edible turtle (Chelone midas) and the tortoiseshell-producing variety (Caretta imbricata) … among the marine products of the Bahamas.
