Scute

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /skjuːt/

Definitions

1. A tiny, rigid plate that functions as a protective layer for certain reptiles and fish
2. A small, hard plate forming a protective covering on the skin of some reptiles or fish
3. A rigid scale-like structure that shields and covers parts of a reptile or fish's body

Etymology: Before it named a reptile's armour, "scute" meant a shield, and the Latin word behind it, "scutum", was the large rectangular shield carried by Roman legionaries. English borrowed the term directly from that Latin source, so the shield sense came first and the zoological sense grew out of it. The comparison is apt: a scute is a small, hard plate that guards the body much as a shield guards a soldier. The same Latin root travelled far beyond English. It sits behind the Spanish "escudo" and the Italian "scudo", both old coin names that carried the image of a shield, and behind the French "écu", which likewise named a coin stamped with a shield emblem. Scute and these coin names are therefore relatives, linked by a common picture of protection.

Synonyms: shield, scale, plate, armor, protection