testudo

See also: Testudo

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Latin testūdō (“tortoise, turtle, lyre, type of military shelter”).

Noun

testudo (plural testudos or testudoes or testudines)

1. (Ancient Rome, military, historical) A shelter formed by a body of troops holding their shields or targets close together over their heads.

   Synonym: sheltron

2. A shelter of similar shape for miners, etc.
3. (anatomy) The fornix.
4. (music) A chelys (kind of lyre)

   Synonym: chelys lyre

5. (pathology) An encysted tumour.

Translations

shelter formed by a body of troops holding their shields or targets close together over their heads

• Finnish: kilpikonnamuodostelma
• Old English: sċildtruma m
• Russian: черепа́ха (ru) f (čerepáxa)
• Spanish: testudo (es) m

References

• “testudo”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• duettos

Esperanto

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin testa

Proto-Indo-European *-tu-

Proto-Indo-European *-d-

Proto-Indo-European *-Hō

Proto-Italic *-tūdō

Latin -tūdō

Latin testūdōbor.

Esperanto testudo

Borrowed from Latin testūdō (“tortoise”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tesˈtudo/

• Audio 1:

  (file)

• Audio 2:

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• Rhymes: -udo
• Syllabification: tes‧tu‧do

Noun

testudo (accusative singular testudon, plural testudoj, accusative plural testudojn)

1. tortoise
2. turtle

   Synonym: kelonio

3. (military, historical) testudo

Derived terms

• marĉa testudo
• martestudo
• testudaĵo
• testude
• testudŝelo
• testudulo

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin testa

Proto-Indo-European *-tu-

Proto-Indo-European *-d-

Proto-Indo-European *-Hō

Proto-Italic *-tūdō

Latin -tūdō

Latin testudo

From testa + -tūdō.

Compare typologically Russian черепа́ха (čerepáxa) (akin to черепо́к (čerepók), че́реп (čérep)).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [tɛsˈtuː.doː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [tesˈtuː.do]

Noun

testūdō f (genitive testūdinis); third declension

1. tortoise, turtle
2. tortoise-shell
3. (by extension) lyre, lute
   • 23 BCE – 13 BCE, Horatius, Carmina 1.32.14
4. (by extension, military) covering, shed, shelter
   1. testudo (shelter formed of the shields of the soldiers held over their heads)
5. (by extension, in buildings) arch, vault
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 1.505–506:

     Tum foribus dīvae, mediā testūdine templī,
     saepta armīs, soliōque altē subnīxa resēdit.

     Then, [facing the] doorway of the goddess [Juno], [there] in the middle beneath the vault of the temple, surrounded by armed guards, and supported by the lofty throne, [Dido] remained seated.

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	testūdō	testūdinēs
genitive	testūdinis	testūdinum
dative	testūdinī	testūdinibus
accusative	testūdinem	testūdinēs
ablative	testūdine	testūdinibus
vocative	testūdō	testūdinēs

Derived terms

• testūdineātus
• testūdineus
• testūdō marīna
• testūdō terrestris

Related terms

• testa
• testāceus
• testātim
• testeus
• testū
• testuātium
• testula

Descendants

• Italian: testuggine
• Neapolitan: stuscene
• → English: testudo
• → Esperanto: testudo
• → French: testudo
• → Spanish: testudo

References

• “testudo”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “testudo”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "testudo", in Charles du Fresne du Cange, Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• “testudo”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to advance to the walls protected by a covering of shields: testudine facta moenia subire (B. G. 2. 6)
    
• “testudo”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• testudo in Ramminger, Johann (16 July 2016 (last accessed)), Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎^[2], pre-publication website, 2005-2016
• “testudo”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin

Portuguese

Etymology

Etymology tree

Latin testa

Old Galician-Portuguese testa

Portuguese testa

Proto-Indo-European *-tós

Proto-Italic *-tos

Latin -tusder.

Latin -ūtus

Portuguese -udo

Portuguese testudo

From testa + -udo.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /tesˈtu.du/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /tesˈtu.du/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /teʃˈtu.du/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /tɨʃˈtu.du/ [tɨʃˈtu.ðu]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /tɨʃˈtu.du/ [tɨʃˈtu.ðu]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /tɨʃˈtu.du/

• Hyphenation: tes‧tu‧do

Adjective

testudo (feminine testuda, masculine plural testudos, feminine plural testudas)

1. (of a person or animal) having a big forehead

Further reading

• “testudo”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “testudo”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026