Definition of testudo in English:
testudo
nounPlural testudines, Plural testudos tɛˈstjuːdəʊtɛˈstuːdəʊtɛˈst(j)udoʊ
1(in ancient Rome) a wheeled screen with an arched roof, used to protect besieging troops.
Example sentencesExamples
- It was usually the same men in each testudo as each had to know exactly where he was to be placed.
- When the bombardment failed, Salisbury's men built a testudo or "tortoise," a wheeled covered shed under which his men worked battering rams.
- Miles did attempt to make a contribution to operations in Cuba, in the form of a little invention based on the ancient Roman testudo.
- 1.1 A protective screen formed by a body of troops holding their shields above their heads in such a way that the shields overlap.
Example sentencesExamples
- Roman soldiers used to form a testudo or tortoise, by some putting their shields over their heads and others in front.
- The testudo, the tortoise formation, involved raising the scutums into a shell.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin, literally 'tortoise', from testa 'tile, shell'.
Rhymes
escudo, judo, ludo, pseudo, Trudeau
Definition of testudo in US English:
testudo
nounteˈst(y)o͞odōtɛˈst(j)udoʊ
1(in ancient Rome) a screen on wheels and with an arched roof, used to protect besieging troops.
Example sentencesExamples
- Miles did attempt to make a contribution to operations in Cuba, in the form of a little invention based on the ancient Roman testudo.
- When the bombardment failed, Salisbury's men built a testudo or "tortoise," a wheeled covered shed under which his men worked battering rams.
- It was usually the same men in each testudo as each had to know exactly where he was to be placed.
- 1.1 A protective screen formed by a body of troops holding their shields above their heads in such a way that the shields overlap.
Example sentencesExamples
- Roman soldiers used to form a testudo or tortoise, by some putting their shields over their heads and others in front.
- The testudo, the tortoise formation, involved raising the scutums into a shell.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin, literally ‘tortoise’, from testa ‘tile, shell’.