Scutum

Definitions

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.
   Roman, historical
2. A small autumn constellation of the northern sky, said to resemble a shield. It lies between the constellations of Aquila, Sagittarius, and the tail of Serpens.
3. A scute.
4. A shield-like protection, such as the scutum protecting the back of a hard tick (cf. alloscutum, conscutum).
5. One of the two lower valves of the operculum of a barnacle.
6. The kneecap.

Equivalents

Examples

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

CEFR level