Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A pastry shell with shallow sides, no top crust, and any of various fillings.
  • noun Chiefly British A pie.
  • noun A prostitute.
  • noun A woman considered to be sexually promiscuous.
  • transitive verb To dress up or make fancy in a tawdry, garish way. Often used with up.
  • adjective Having a sharp pungent taste; sour. synonym: sour.
  • adjective Sharp or bitter in tone or meaning; cutting.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A pie or piece of pastry, consisting generally of fruit baked in paste. Compare pie.
  • To make acid or piquant.
  • Sharp to the taste; acidulous: as, a tart apple.
  • Figuratively, sharp; keen; severe; cutting; biting: as, a tart reply; tart language; a tart rebuke.
  • Synonyms Sour, caustic. See tartness.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Sharp to the taste; acid; sour.
  • adjective Fig.: Sharp; keen; severe
  • noun A species of small open pie, or piece of pastry, containing jelly or conserve; a sort of fruit pie.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Sharp to the taste; acid; sour.
  • adjective Of wine: high or too high in acidity.
  • adjective figuratively Sharp; keen; severe.
  • noun A type of small open pie, or piece of pastry, containing jelly or conserve; a sort of fruit pie.
  • noun UK (slang) A prostitute.
  • noun UK (slang, derogatory) By extension, any woman with loose sexual morals.
  • verb To practice prostitution
  • verb To practice promiscuous sex
  • verb To dress garishly or ostentatiously

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a woman who engages in sexual intercourse for money
  • noun a pastry cup with a filling of fruit or custard and no top crust
  • adjective tasting sour like a lemon
  • noun a small open pie with a fruit filling
  • adjective harsh

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English tarte, from Old French, perhaps alteration of tartane, from Late Latin torta, a kind of bread.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old English teart, severe; see der- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

May be from Old English teart. Cognate with German zart ("delicate, tender") and Albanian thartë ("sour, acid, sharp")

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Old French tarte ("flat pastry").

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From sweetheart or jam tart ("attractive woman") by shortening

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Examples

  • The word tart comes from the Latin word _tortus_, because tarts were originally in twisted shapes, and every country seems to have adopted them into their national menus.

    American Cookery November, 1921 Various 1892

  • The filling for the tart is a fairly standard brownie recipe, and the same can be said for the crust, and they come together quite easily.

    2009 August | Baking Bites 2009

  • The filling for the tart is a fairly standard brownie recipe, and the same can be said for the crust, and they come together quite easily.

    Bites from other Blogs | Baking Bites 2009

  • If I make this again, I will use a loose-bottomed tart pan, rather than the pyrex pie pan, because the tart is a thin one - and a good thing too, as it is very sweet.

    Tangentially Irish Lindy 2007

  • This tart is a great way to kick off your return to blogalnd!

    i am back & a mushroom ricotta tart myriam 2007

  • If I make this again, I will use a loose-bottomed tart pan, rather than the pyrex pie pan, because the tart is a thin one - and a good thing too, as it is very sweet.

    Toast: Lindy 2007

  • "Yes, being a tart is a full time occupation," retorted Sharon to the retreating form.

    Archive 2005-11-01 Sharon Bakar 2005

  • "Yes, being a tart is a full time occupation," retorted Sharon to the retreating form.

    Ouch! Let Me Go! Sharon Bakar 2005

  • Star Magazine snitches claim Rihanna allowed her allegedly abusive boyfriend Chris Brown to record several of their “intimate encounters” (Hint, Hint) and the pop tart is now petrified that the racy footage of Chris Breezy “running it” in her no-no holes will soon be exposed.

    Chris Brown & Rihanna Moving In Together 2009

  • My favorite thing about this type of tart is that you can use just about any kind of fruit in it - berries, apples, plums, nectarines, pears, grapes, etc.

    Easy Peach Galette | Baking Bites 2009

Comments

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  • A tart doesn't have a pastry top - that's a pie.

    June 18, 2008

  • person (male or female) of low morals

    July 23, 2008

  • I use this word with a different meaning. Taken from Gaelic, tart means "thirst". In English I have used this word as a slang adjective to describe one being thirsty, specifically for some type of alcoholic beverage.

    Bostonians, with their Irish heritage may often use this word:

    "Man, I am wicked tart tonight." only best spoken with a Boston accent so it sounds more like tat.

    Chicagoans, with their Irish heritage may also use the words only with their unique accent that may sound more like tert.

    June 9, 2009

  • Yes, WeirdNet, that too.

    September 8, 2009

  • When I was attending a boys' secondary school near Birmingham, UK, in the 1950s tart was used unselfconsiously as equivalent to girlfriend or a girl one just took out. Maybe in this usage tart = sweetheart, somewhat counter to the identification with a sex worker of the appropriate gender.

    December 7, 2011

  • Rhyming slang for heart is jam tart - remember the Queen of Hearts whose baked goods were purloined by the Jack (or was it the Knave?). The phrase is often used by bridge players when referring to the Hearts suit.

    December 7, 2011