one of a pair of coverings of the forewings of certain insects
2. architecture
an overlapping roof tile
tegula in American English
(ˈteɡjələ)
nounWord forms: plural-lae (-ˌli)
(in certain insects)
a scalelike lobe at the base of the forewing
Word origin
[1820–30; ‹ L tēgula tile]This word is first recorded in the period 1820–30. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: boomerang, insider, morphology, myth, phonetic