Testudo

Origin

Latin , from testa ("the shell of shellfish, or of testaceous animals"). See Testudo ("tortoise genus").

Full definition of testudo

Noun

1. (historical, Roman antiquity) A shelter formed by a body of troops by holding their shields or targets close together over their heads.
2. (music) A kind of lyre; so called in allusion to the lyre of Mercury, fabled to have been made of the shell of a tortoise.