Historically, the term Tatar (often misspelled Tartar) has been ambiguously used by Europeans to refer to many different peoples of Inner Asia and Northern Asia. For example, the Russians referred to various peoples they came into contact with on the Eurasian steppes as Tatars yet the British and Americans generally referred to the Manchu and related peoples as Tatars when they first arrived in China. The old English language designation is now regarded as archaic, although the meaning is preserved in the name of the Strait of Tartary that separates the island of Sakhalin from mainland Asia. Today, the word is generally confined to meaning one of the following:
- A Mongolian tribe, Ta-ta Mongols, that was conquered/absorbed by Genghis Khan. Related indigeneous groups of the Eastern Siberia are still called Tatars.
- A member of the Tatars (Turkic peoples): Volga Tatars, Crimean Tatars and Siberian Tatars.
- Tatar language, Crimean Tatar language, Baraba language.
In Swedish, the word tattare has been used to refer to the Romani people, as Tater people, (also known as "Norwegian and Swedish Travellers"). The word tattare is now considered a disparaging term in Sweden and has been completely abandoned, in favour of the more politically correct resandefolket ('the travelling people') or romer ('Romani people').
Other uses
Tartar, a GWR Iron Duke Class steam locomotive
