Lexic.us

Definition of Testudo

1. Noun. A movable protective covering that provided protection from above; used by Roman troops when approaching the walls of a besieged fortification.

Definition of Testudo

1. n. A genus of tortoises which formerly included a large number of diverse forms, but is now restricted to certain terrestrial species, such as the European land tortoise (Testudo Græca) and the gopher of the Southern United States.

Definition of Testudo

1. a portable screen used as a shield by the ancient Romans [n -DINES or -DOS]

Medical Definition of Testudo

1. Origin: L, from testa the shell of shellfish, or of testaceous animals. 1. A genus of tortoises which formerly included a large number of diverse forms, but is now restricted to certain terrestrial species, such as the European land tortoise (Testudo Graeca) and the gopher of the Southern United States. 2. A cover or screen which a body of troops formed with their shields or targets, by holding them over their heads when standing close to each other. This cover resembled the back of a tortoise, and served to shelter the men from darts, stones, and other missiles. A similar defense was sometimes formed of boards, and moved on wheels. 3. A kind of musical instrument. A species of lyre; so called in allusion to the lyre of Mercury, fabled to have been made of the shell of a tortoise. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Testudo

Literary usage of Testudo

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities by William Smith (1891)
"The size of this testudo, a« that of other testudines, of course varied. ... The name of testudo was also applied to the covering made by a close body of ..."

2. The Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians: Including Their Private by John Gardner Wilkinson (1837)
"The testudo was of frame-work, sometimes supported by poles having a forked summit, and covered, in all probability, with hides ; it was sufficiently large ..."

3. Manners and Customs of the Ancient Egyptians: Including Their Private Life by John Gardner Wilkinson (1842)
"The testudo was of frame-work, sometimes supported by poles having a forked summit, and covered, in all probability, with hides ; it was sufficiently large ..."

4. Manners and customs of the ancient Egyptians: Including Their Private Life by John Gardner Wilkinson (1837)
"The testudo was of frame-work, sometimes supported by poles having a ... the precipitous part by means of the testudo, or by * The testudo ad ..."

5. Annals and Magazine of Natural History by William Jardine, Taylor and Francis (1870)
"... testudo. It was observed in 1852 by J. Thornton, who gave it the name of ... testudo§. This zoologist was of opinion that it belonged to the Hemiptera ..."

6. Catalogue of the Specimens of Amphipodous Crustacea in the Collection of the by Charles Spence Bate (1862)
"Sessile-eyed Oniscus testudo, Montagu, Linn. Trans, ix. p. 102.pl. 5. f. ... testudo must lose its specific name. In the ' British Sessile-eyed Crustacea' ..."

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