scutum

noun /ˈskjuːtəm/

1. An oblong shield made of boards or wickerwork covered with leather, with sometimes an iron rim; carried chiefly by the heavily armed infantry of the Roman army.

   historical

2. A scute.

3. A shield-like protection, such as the scutum protecting the back of a hard tick (cf. alloscutum, conscutum).

   A tick's eye, if present, is a mere roundish lucent area at the margin of the scutum about opposite the second coxa.

4. One of the two lower valves of the operculum of a barnacle.

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Latin scūtum (“shield”). Doublet of escudo, scudo, scute, and écu.

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry scutum (CC BY-SA 4.0).

← scutescytale →

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