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Scutum

//ˈskjuːtəm// name, noun

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    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.
Noun
  1. 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. 2
    A scute.
  3. 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. 4
    One of the two lower valves of the operculum of a barnacle.
  5. 5
    The kneecap.

Etymology

Etymology 1

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

Etymology 2

Named by the astronomer Johannes Hevelius in 1687, from Latin scūtum (“shield”). The original name given was Scutum Sobiescianum (Sobieski's Shield) in commemoration of the victory of the Polish, Austrian, and German forces led by the Polish king Jan III Sobieski at the battle of Vienna.

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