Turkey or the Ottoman Empire, a great Mohammedan State embracing wide areas in Eastern Europe and Western Asia, besides the province of Tripoli in North Africa, and the tributary States Bulgaria and Eastern Roumelia, Bosnia and Herzegovina (under Austria), Cyprus (under Britain), Samos and Egypt (practically controlled by Britain). European Turkey (4,786), which during the last 200 years has been gradually losing territory, now comprises a narrow strip of land between the Adriatic (W.) and the Black Sea (E.), about twice the size of England; is traversed by the Dinaric Alps and Pindus Mountains, which strike southwards into Greece, while offshoots from the Balkans (q. v.) diversify the E.; climate is very variable, and is marked by high winds and extremes of cold and heat; the soil is remarkably fertile and well adapted for the cultivation of cereals, but agricultural enterprise is hampered by excessive taxation; there is abundance of the useful metals; is the only non-Christian State in Europe. Asiatic Turkey (16,000) is bounded N. by the Black Sea, S. by the Arabian Desert and the Mediterranean, E. by Persia and Transcaucasia, and W. by the Archipelago; has an area more than ten times that of Turkey in Europe, is still more mountainous, being traversed by the Taurus, Anti-Taurus, and the Lebanon ranges; is ill watered, and even the valleys of the Euphrates, Tigris, and Jordan are subject to great drought in the summer; embraces Asia Minor (q. v.), Syria (q. v.), Palestine (q. v.), and the coast strips of Arabia along the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf; chief exports are fruits, silk, cotton, wool, opium, &c. The population of the Ottoman Empire is of a most heterogeneous character, embracing Turks, Greeks, Slavs, Albanians, Armenians, Syrians, Arabs, Tartars, &c. The government is a pure despotism, and the Sultan is regarded as the Caliph or head of Islam; military service is compulsory, and the army on a war footing numbers not less than 750,000, but the navy is small; since 1847 there has been considerable improvement in education; the finances have long been mismanaged, and an annual deficit of two millions sterling is now a usual feature of the national budget; the foreign debt is upwards of 160 millions. From the 17th century onwards the once wide empire of the Turks has been gradually dwindling away. The Turks are essentially a warlike race, and commerce and art have not flourished with them. Their literature is generally lacking in virility, and is mostly imitative and devoid of national character.

Tur"key (?), n. [Cf. 2d Turkey.] An empire in the southeast of Europe and southwest of Asia.

Turkey carpet, a superior kind of carpet made in Asia Minor and adjoining countries, having a deep pile and composed of pure wool with a weft of different material. It is distinguishable by its coloring and patterns from similar carpets made in India and elsewhere. -- Turkey oak. (Bot.)See Cerris. -- Turkey red. (a)A brilliant red imparted by madder to cottons, calicoes, etc., the fiber of which has been prepared previously with oil or other fatty matter.(b)Cloth dyed with this red. -- Turkey sponge. (Zoöl.)See Toilet sponge, under Sponge. -- Turkey stone, a kind of oilstone from Turkey; novaculite; -- called also Turkey oilstone.

Tur"key (?), n.; pl. Turkeys (#). [So called because it was formerly erroneously believed that it came originally from Turkey: cf. F. Turquie Turkey. See Turk.] (Zoöl.) Any large American gallinaceous bird belonging to the genus Meleagris, especially the North American wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), and the domestic turkey, which was probably derived from the Mexican wild turkey, but had been domesticated by the Indians long before the discovery of America.

&fist; The Mexican wild turkey is now considered a variety of the northern species (var. Mexicana). Its tall feathers and coverts are tipped with white instead of brownish chestnut, and its flesh is white. The Central American, or ocellated, turkey (M. ocellata) is more elegantly colored than the common species. See under Ocellated. The Australian, or native, turkey is a bustard (Choriotis australis). See under Native.

Turkey beard(Bot.), a name of certain American perennial liliaceous herbs of the genus Xerophyllum. They have a dense tuft of hard, narrowly linear radical leaves, and a long raceme of small whitish flowers. Also called turkey's beard. -- Turkey berry(Bot.), a West Indian name for the fruit of certain kinds of nightshade (Solanum mammosum, and S. torvum). -- Turkey bird(Zoöl.), the wryneck. So called because it erects and ruffles the feathers of its neck when disturbed. [Prov. Eng.] -- Turkey buzzard(Zoöl.), a black or nearly black buzzard (Cathartes aura), abundant in the Southern United States. It is so called because its naked and warty head and neck resemble those of a turkey. Its is noted for its high and graceful flight. Called also turkey vulture. -- Turkey cock(Zoöl.), a male turkey. -- Turkey hen(Zoöl.), a female turkey. -- Turkey pout(Zoöl.), a young turkey. [R.] -- Turkey vulture(Zoöl.), the turkey buzzard.

Tur"key (?), n. [Cf. 2d Turkey.] An empire in the southeast of Europe and southwest of Asia.

Turkey carpet, a superior kind of carpet made in Asia Minor and adjoining countries, having a deep pile and composed of pure wool with a weft of different material. It is distinguishable by its coloring and patterns from similar carpets made in India and elsewhere. -- Turkey oak. (Bot.)See Cerris. -- Turkey red. (a)A brilliant red imparted by madder to cottons, calicoes, etc., the fiber of which has been prepared previously with oil or other fatty matter.(b)Cloth dyed with this red. -- Turkey sponge. (Zoöl.)See Toilet sponge, under Sponge. -- Turkey stone, a kind of oilstone from Turkey; novaculite; -- called also Turkey oilstone.

Tur"key (?), n.; pl. Turkeys (#). [So called because it was formerly erroneously believed that it came originally from Turkey: cf. F. Turquie Turkey. See Turk.] (Zoöl.) Any large American gallinaceous bird belonging to the genus Meleagris, especially the North American wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo), and the domestic turkey, which was probably derived from the Mexican wild turkey, but had been domesticated by the Indians long before the discovery of America.

&fist; The Mexican wild turkey is now considered a variety of the northern species (var. Mexicana). Its tall feathers and coverts are tipped with white instead of brownish chestnut, and its flesh is white. The Central American, or ocellated, turkey (M. ocellata) is more elegantly colored than the common species. See under Ocellated. The Australian, or native, turkey is a bustard (Choriotis australis). See under Native.

Turkey beard(Bot.), a name of certain American perennial liliaceous herbs of the genus Xerophyllum. They have a dense tuft of hard, narrowly linear radical leaves, and a long raceme of small whitish flowers. Also called turkey's beard. -- Turkey berry(Bot.), a West Indian name for the fruit of certain kinds of nightshade (Solanum mammosum, and S. torvum). -- Turkey bird(Zoöl.), the wryneck. So called because it erects and ruffles the feathers of its neck when disturbed. [Prov. Eng.] -- Turkey buzzard(Zoöl.), a black or nearly black buzzard (Cathartes aura), abundant in the Southern United States. It is so called because its naked and warty head and neck resemble those of a turkey. Its is noted for its high and graceful flight. Called also turkey vulture. -- Turkey cock(Zoöl.), a male turkey. -- Turkey hen(Zoöl.), a female turkey. -- Turkey pout(Zoöl.), a young turkey. [R.] -- Turkey vulture(Zoöl.), the turkey buzzard.

TURKEY, n. A large bird whose flesh when eaten on certain religious
anniversaries has the peculiar property of attesting piety and
gratitude. Incidentally, it is pretty good eating.