TESTUDO • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Testudo

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noun

Testudo n. (pl. testudines)

(Zool.) 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.

(Rom. Antiq.) 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.

(Mus.) 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.

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Etymology of 'Testudo'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Testudo" Quotes from Famous Books

... and unexpectedly fall upon the troops of Niger from the rear. When they came to close quarters, the soldiers of Sevents placed some of their shields in front of them and held some above their heads, making a testudo, and in this formation they approached the enemy. So the battle was a drawn one for a long while, but eventually Niger's men got decidedly the advantage both by their numbers and by the topography of the ...

— Dio's Rome, Volume V., Books 61-76 (A.D. 54-211) • Cassius Dio

... roof, however, fail to catch fire another means of attack is employed. Putting their shields upon their heads in a formation much like the old Roman testudo, they advance to the house in bodies of four or six and begin to hack down the posts. But here again they may be foiled, for it has happened that the inmates of the house were provided with a supply of big stones, or had a little boiling water on hand, and made ...

— The Manbos of Mindano - Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume XXIII, First Memoir • John M. Garvan

Words linked to "Testudo" : protection, family Testudinidae, European tortoise, Testudo graeca, protective covering, giant tortoise, genus Testudo