||Scu"tum (?), n.; pl.
Scuta (#). [L.] 1. (Rom.
Antiq.) An oblong shield made of boards or wickerwork covered
with leather, with sometimes an iron rim; -- carried chiefly by the
heavy-armed infantry.
2. (O. Eng. Law) A penthouse or
awning. [Obs.] Burrill.
3. (Zoöl.) (a) The
second and largest of the four parts forming the upper surface of a
thoracic segment of an insect. It is preceded by the prescutum and
followed by the scutellum. See the Illust. under
Thorax. (b) One of the two lower
valves of the operculum of a barnacle.
||Scu"tum (?), n.; pl.
Scuta (#). [L.] 1. (Rom.
Antiq.) An oblong shield made of boards or wickerwork covered
with leather, with sometimes an iron rim; -- carried chiefly by the
heavy-armed infantry.
2. (O. Eng. Law) A penthouse or
awning. [Obs.] Burrill.
3. (Zoöl.) (a) The
second and largest of the four parts forming the upper surface of a
thoracic segment of an insect. It is preceded by the prescutum and
followed by the scutellum. See the Illust. under
Thorax. (b) One of the two lower
valves of the operculum of a barnacle.
