Forms: α. 1 teru, teoru (-o), (-tearo); 3–5 (6– Sc.) ter, 4 (Sc. 4–) terr, 4–6 terre, 4–5 teer, (5 tere). β. 4–7 tarre, 4–8 tarr, 5 taar, 6– tar. γ. 1 tyrwe, 2 tirwe. [OE. teru (gen. terw-es), teoru (-o):—*terwo- neut. = MLG. ter, tere, LG. and (thence) mod.Ger. teer, Du. teer; also ON. tjara fem. (Norw. tjøra, Sw. tjära, Da. tjære). OE. jad also the deriv. form *tierwe, tyrwe:—*terwjōn. Generally considered to be a deriv. of OTeut. *trewo-, Goth. triu, OE. treow tree (Indo-Eur, derw-: dorw-: dru-): cf. Lith. darvà pine-wood, Lett. darwa tar, ON. tyr-viðr pine-wood. Thus terwo may have meant orig. ‘the product (pitch) of certain kinds of trees.’]
1. A thick, viscid, black or dark-colored, inflammable liquid, obtained by the destructive distillation of wood (esp. pine, fir, or larch), coal, or other organic substance; chemically, a mixture of hydrocarbons with resins, alcohols, and other compounds, having a heavy resinous or bituminous odor, and powerful antiseptic properties; it is much used for coating and preserving timber, cordage, etc. See also COAL-TAR.
In some early quots. used for BITUMEN: cf. 2.
α. a. 700. Epinal Gloss., 677 (Sweet, O.E.T.). Napta, blaecteru. Ibid., 858. Resina, teru.
c. 725. Corpus Gloss., 1360. Napta, blaec-teoru. Ibid., 1716. Resina, teoru.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 76. Meng wiþ sote, sealt, teoro, huniȝ, eald sape, smire mid.
c. 1050. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 412/6. Gluten, lim, oððe tero.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 662. To maken a tur, wel heȝ & Strong, Of tiȝel and ter, for water-gong.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 11899. Þai … drund him in pike and terr.
1436. Libel Eng. Policy, in Pol. Poems (Rolls), II. 171. Peltre-ware, and grey pych, terre, borde and flex.
1483. Cath. Angl., 380/2. Ter, bitumen.
1508. Kennedie, Flyting w. Dunbar, 335. Thou salbe brynt, With pik, fyre, ter, gun puldre, or lint.
1522. More, De Quat. Noviss., Wks. 74/1. Thei had leuer eate terre than tryacle.
1720. in Jrnl. Derbysh. Archæol. Soc. (1905), XXVII. 215. Ter and oile.
β. 1355–6. Abingdon Rolls (Camden), 9. In tarr et rubea petra xx d.
c. 1440. Pallad. on Husb., XII. 239. Rubrike and taar [L. pix liquida] wormys & auntis sleth.
a. 1500[?]. Chester Pl., vii. 33. Heare is tarr in a pot.
1555. Philpot, in Foxe, A. & M. (1583), 1835/1. He that toucheth tarre, can not but be defiled therby.
1610. Shaks., Temp., II. ii. 54. She lou’d not the sauour of Tar nor of Pitch.
1681. Patent Specif. (1856), No. 214. 1. A new way of makeing pitch and tarre out of pit coal.
1813. Davy, Agric. Chem., iii. (1814), 98. Tar and pitch principally consist of resin in a partially decomposed state.
1872. Oliver, Elem. Bot., II. 247. Tar is distilled from faggots of Pine, chiefly Scotch Fir, in the North of Europe.
γ. c. 1000. Ælfric, Hom., I. 20. Ȝeclæm ealle þa seamas mid tyrwan.
a. 1175. Cott. Hom., 225. Iclem hall þe seames mid tirwan.
b. Proverb. To lose the sheep (dial. ship) for a ha’p’orth of tar: see HALFPENNYWORTH b.
c. fig. in reference to extraction from a negro or dark-colored ancestry: cf. TAR-BRUSH b.
1897. Anne Page, Afternoon Ride, 68. There was a touch of tar in this buxom dame.
2. Applied, with distinctive epithets, to natural substances resembling tar, as petroleum or bitumen: see quots. 1796, 1875, and MINERAL a. 5.
1747. Wesley, Prim. Physick (1762), 37. Half a teaspoonful of Barbadoes Tar.
1796. Morse, Amer. Geog., I. 558. A spring, on the top of which floats an oil, similar to that called Barbadoes tar.
1875. Ure’s Dict. Arts, III. 397. In a great number of places … a more or less fluid inflamable matter exudes. It is known as Persian naphtha, Petroleum, Rock-oil, Rangoon tar, Burmese naphtha, &c.
3. A familiar appellation for a sailor: perh. abbreviation of TARPAULIN. Cf. JACK-TAR.
1676. Wycherley, Pl. Dealer, II. i. Nov. Dear tar, thy humble servant.
1695. Congreve, Love for L., IV. xiv. You would have seen the Resolution of a Lover,—Honest Tarr and I are parted.
1706. Swift, To Peterborough, xi. Fierce in war, A land-commander, and a tar.
1709. Steele, Tatler, No. 31, ¶ 2. A Boatswain of an East-India Man … like a true Tar of Honour.
1820. Scoresby, Acc. Arctic Reg., I. 514. The chief mate… resolute and noble tar.
1840. R. Dana, Bef. Mast., xxv. There was only one ‘splicer’ on board, a fine-looking old tar, who was in the bunt of the fore topsail.
1862. Baring-Gould, Iceland (1863), 179. The jolly tars seize the horses and ride them helter skelter up hill and down dale.
4. attrib. and Comb. a. attrib. Made of, from, or with tar; consisting of, containing, or derived from tar: as tar-baby, -ball, -bath, -creosote, derivative, -dye, -lotion, -mark, -oil, -ointment, -pill, -plaster, product, -salve, -soap, -spring, -tincture, -vapor, -varnish, -wash; covered or impregnated with tar, as tar-bandage, -cloth, -cord, -neckcloth, -paper, -paving; used for holding, or in making, tar, as tar-boiler, † -boist (= TAR-BOX 1), -bucket, -can, -copper, -funnel, -horn, -kettle, -pit, † -pough, † -stoup, -trough, -tub (in quot. fig.). b. objective, instrumental, etc., as tar-burning; tar-bind, -brand, -paint vbs., tar-bedaubed, -clotted, -laid, -painted, -paved, -roofed, -scented, -soaked adjs., tar-spraying, -sprinkling; tar-like adj. c. Special Combs.: tar acne, Path., an inflammatory disease of the skin produced by rubbing with tar, etc.; tar-beer, a mixture of tar and beer, used medicinally (cf. TAR-WATER 1); tar-board, see quot.; ‘a building-paper saturated with tar’ (Cent. Dict.); † tar-breech a., wearing tarry breeches: epithet for a sailor (cf. tarry-breeks); tar-kiln, a covered heap of wood or coal from which tar is obtained by burning; tar-lamp, a lamp in which tar is used as the illuminant (Knight, Dict. Mech., 1877); tar-lubber, contemptuous name for a sailor (cf. 3); tar-marl, -marline (dial.), tarred twine used in thatching; † tar-pitch (terpiche) = sense 1; tar-pot, (a) a pot containing tar; (b) humorously applied to a sailor (cf. 3); tar-putty, a viscid substance made by mixing tar and lamp-black; tar-weed, U.S., name for plants of the genera Madia, Hemizonia, and Grindelia, from their viscidity and heavy scent; tar-well, a receptacle in gas-works for collecting the tarry liquid that separates from the gas; tar-wood, resinous wood from which tar is obtained; tar-work, -s, a place for making tar; tar-worker, a workman employed in making tar; tar-yard, a yard in which tar is made. See also TAR-BARREL, -BOX, -BRUSH, etc.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 918. A form of eruption very similar to this occurs in workers in creasote and tar—*‘tar acne.’
1881. J. C. Harris, Uncle Remus, ii. 20. Brer Fax … got ’im some tar, en mix it wid some turkentime, en fix up a contrapshun what he call a *Tar-Baby.
1735. Bracken, in Burdon, Pocket Farriery, 39, note. There is a Ball under the name of *Tar Ball.
1891. Cent. Dict., *Tar bandage, an antiseptic bandage made by saturating a roller bandage, after application, with a mixture of 1 part of olive oil and 20 parts of tar.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 605. A *tar bath … has not only an anti-pruritic but also a curative action.
1906. Daily Chron., 31 Aug., 3/2. In his patched and very much *tar-bedaubed punt.
1857. Dunglison, Med. Lex., s.v. Pinus sylvestris, Tar water … is employed chiefly in pulmonary affections…. A wine or beer of tar, *Tarbeer, Jews’ beer, has been employed in Philadelphia in similar cases.
1909. Westm. Gaz., 30 Aug., 2/1. There are two distinct methods of *tar-binding the surface of our roads.
1877. Knight, Dict. Mech., *Tar-board, a strong quality of mill-board made from junk and old tarred rope.
a. 1500[?]. Chester Pl., vii. 78. With *Tarboyst most bene all tamed, Penigras, and butter for fat sheepe.
1890. ‘R. Boldrewood,’ Col. Reformer (1891), 120. Flock … to be counted, or drafted, or shifted, or *tar-branded.
1582. Stanyhurst, Æneis, IV. (Arb.), 108. A runnagat hedgebrat, A *tarbreeche quystroune dyd I take.
1864. Carlyle, Fredk. Gt., XV. i. (1873), V. 270. Mankind … took to … *tar-burning and te-deum-ing on an extensive scale.
1888. J. Shallow, Templars’ Trials, xi. 24. He approached … as cautiously as a boy with a *tar can does a wasp’s nest.
1899. T. Hardy, in Academy, 18 Nov., 599/1. Great guns were gleaming there—Cloaked in their *tar-cloths.
1900. H. G. Graham, Soc. Life Scotl. 18th. C., xv. (1901), 513. Thin, short *tar-clotted fleeces of the sheep.
1768. Chron., in Ann. Reg., 113/2. A fire broke out in a tar-yard … by the *tar-copper boiling over.
1879. Jefferies, Wild Life in S. C., 47. A couple of flakes fastened together with *tar-cord.
1868. Q. Rev., April, 346. A very singular product called *tar-creosote or carbolic acid.
1896. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., V. 45. Among the *tar derivatives [may be specially mentioned] creosote and guaiacol.
1894. Westm. Gaz., 8 March, 3/3. The stockings … are dyed with *tar-dyes, which are perfectly harmless.
1573. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 38. A sheepe marke, a *tar kettle.
1755. Gentl. Mag., XXV. 551/1. A sufficient crop of these old knots (which are full of rosin) for the *tar-kilns.
1856. Kane, Arct. Expl., II. i. 26. We have been using up our *tar-laid hemp hawsers.
1683. Robinson, in Ray’s Corr. (1848), 137. I have observed the inhabitants of Languedoc get a *tar-like substance out of the Juniperus.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 521. The use of tar soaps, followed by *tar lotions, is sometimes more efficacious.
1610. Healey, St. Aug. Citie of God, 707. Another *Tarre-lubber bragges that hee is a souldiour.
1844. Stephens, Bk. Farm, III. 1282. The letter P … on the rump to shew the *tar-mark of the farm on which it had been bred.
1863. Stamford Mercury, 27 Sept. He got some *tar-marline and tied the horse’s mouth.
1713. Steele, Englishman, No. 47. 303. I stood by just now, when a Fellow came in here with a *Tar Neckcloth.
1891. Cent. Dict., *Tar-oil, a volatile oil obtained by distilling tar.
1895. Outing (U.S.), XXVI. 365/1. The little black bottle of tar-oil.
1906. Westm. Gaz., 13 Sept., 10/2. The cost of *tar-painting a road eight yards wide averages about £60 a mile.
1907. Putnam’s Monthly, July, 482/1. A whole house covered with *tar paper and studded with brass tacks sat complacently upon a hay wagon.
1883. Proc. Assoc. Munic. Engin., X. 53. The tar macadam roadways and *tar paved footways … I found in good … order.
1808. Med. Jrnl., XIX. 225. *Tar pills made up with magnesia were also administered.
1839. Ure, Dict. Arts, 963. A considerable quantity is distilled over into the *tar-pit.
a. 1387. Sinon. Barthol. (Anecd. Oxon.), 34. Pix liquida,… *terpiche.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 582. A *tar plaster is better than one of chrysarobin.
1573. Tusser, Husb. (1878), 30. With tar in a *tarpot.
1641. Best, Farm. Bks. (Surtees), 23. One of the girles is to keepe fire under the tarr-potte.
1903. F. T. Bullen, in Daily Chron., 8 June, 3/3. Like many other old tar-pots, I have been intensely annoyed and disgusted by the so-called ‘real’ sea-books put forward.
c. 1394. P. Pl. Crede, 618. Þei may trussen her part in a *terre powȝe!
1903. Westm. Gaz., 16 Sept., 2/1. The value of the annual output of *tar products is over ten millions.
1888. Engineer, LXVI. 521. *‘Tar-putty’ … a viscous mixture of tar and well calcined lampblack.
1896. Howells, Impressions & Exp., 282. A *tar-roofed shanty.
1844. Stephens, Bk. Farm, III. 1118. Applying *tar-salve to sheep.
1892. Pall Mall G., 22 Sept., 14/2. The *tar-soaked logs burn with a peculiar brilliance.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 584. To take frequent baths with *tar soap.
1909. Westm. Gaz., 30 Aug., 2/1. Roads … treated by the cheaper method of *tar-spraying them on the surface.
1775. R. Chandler, Trav. Greece (1825), II. 367. The *tar-springs of Zante are a natural curiosity deserving notice.
1899. Allbutt’s Syst. Med., VIII. 605. To paint the skin with a strong *tar tincture.
1534. Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scotl., VI. 235. For the lane of ane *tar troch, viij d.
1697. trans. C’tess D’Aunoy’s Wks. (1715), 375. He ran to his nasty *Tar-tub of a Mistress.
1805. Dickson, Pract. Agric., I. 48. The outside … properly payed over with pitch or *tar-varnish.
1898. J. Hutchinson, in Arch. Surg., IX. No. 36. 373. I prescribed a *tar wash and it suited admirably.
1884. Miller, Plant-n., *Tar-weed, Californian, the genera Madia and Hemizonia.
1909. Daily Chron., 8 March, 4/6. The unjustly named ‘tar-weed’ … scattered over great tracts of wild country … California smells of it, and smells very pleasantly.
1857. Miller, Elem. Chem., III. 558. The tar, as it accumulates … flows over into the *tar wells.
1856. Emerson, Eng. Traits, iv. 65. King Hake … sets fire to some *tar-wood.
1791. Trans. Soc. Arts, IX. 132. The iron-masters furnish the *Tar-works with coal.
1906. Westm. Gaz., 10 Aug., 10/2. The average life of *tar-workers is eighty-six.
1768. Tar-yard [see tar-copper above].
