the word 'tartar' has a complex journey reflecting both cultural contact and folk etymology. it originates from the old turkic tribal name 'tatar', which was adopted into persian and arabic before entering medieval latin and old french. in european languages, the name became conflated with the classical latin 'tartarus', the name for the infernal abyss in greek mythology, due to phonetic similarity. this association imbued the term with connotations of ferocity and hellishness, influencing its use to describe both the historical central asian peoples and, by metaphorical extension, a violent person. the dental sense is a separate development, coming from medieval latin 'tartarum', referring to a crust or deposit, likely influenced by the same root due to the substance's hard, unpleasant nature.

the word is a simplex loanword. it entered english from old french 'tartare', which derived from medieval latin 'tartarus', and ultimately from latin 'tarta', a borrowing from a turkic source.