testudo

American  

[te-stoo-doh, -styoo-] / tɛˈstu doʊ, -ˈstyu- /

noun

plural

testudines

1. (among the ancient Romans) a movable shelter with a strong and usually fireproof arched roof, used for protection of soldiers in siege operations.

2. a shelter formed by overlapping oblong shields, held by soldiers above their heads.

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testudo British  

/ tɛˈstjuːdəʊ /

noun

1. a form of shelter used by the ancient Roman Army for protection against attack from above, consisting either of a mobile arched structure or of overlapping shields held by the soldiers over their heads

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Etymology

Origin of testudo

1350–1400 for earlier sense “tumor”; 1600–10 testudo for def. 1; Middle English < Latin testūdō tortoise, tortoise shell, siege engine; akin to test ²

Example Sentences

The single round arch of this vestibule repeats the testudo of a Roman bath, and the decorative details are accurately reproduced from similar monuments.

From Renaissance in Italy Volume 3 The Fine Arts by Symonds, John Addington

But the soldiers of the seventh legion, having formed a testudo and thrown up a rampart against the fortification, took the place and drove them out of the woods, receiving only a few wounds.

From "De Bello Gallico" and Other Commentaries by Caesar, Julius

Then we have the Ram, cancer testudo, that battereth; next we have the Tower or Beffroi that goeth on wheels—yonder you shall see them a-building.

From Beltane the Smith by Farnol, Jeffery

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.

From The Manóbos of Mindanáo Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, Volume XXIII, First Memoir by Garvan, John M.

I must not omit the inscription on the south front: "Omnipotens faxet, stirps Sunderlandia sedes Incolet has placide, et tueatur jura parentum, Lite vacans, donec fluctus formica marinos Ebibat et totum testudo perambulet orbem!"

From Notes and Queries, Number 189, June 11, 1853 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Bell, George