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

But I had no spare cash to lay out on stock, either in pigments or specimens of the genus testudo.

From Mated from the Morgue A tale of the Second Empire by O'Shea, John Augustus

At first they were sheltered by baskets and hurdles, afterwards by a testudo, or wooden house running upon wheels and roofed with thick planks.

From Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 1 by Roby, John

It's a case for the testudo and all the rest of it.

From Mr. Justice Raffles by Hornung, E. W. (Ernest William)

Under the testudo the Roman legions swarmed into the walled cities of the orbis terrarum.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 01, No. 03, January, 1858 by Various

The city is not represented as taken, yet sieges are often sculptured on these walls, and the Egyptian army is always supplied with scaling-ladders and the testudo.

From Sketches by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield