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# testudo

«testudo» in Mova's school dictionary: **A testudo was a Roman army formation: soldiers stood…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a testudo, testudos or testudines); (science) Testudo — a genus of tortoises

### meaning for a pupil

1) (history) A testudo was a Roman army formation: soldiers stood close together and held their shields in front of them and over their heads, like a tortoise's shell, to protect themselves from arrows and stones. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/testudo/#m1)

2) (science) Testudo is the scientific name of a group of tortoises, such as the Greek tortoise and Hermann's tortoise. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/testudo/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

History lessons on the Romans: the testudo («tortoise» in Latin) let legionaries move up to enemy walls safely; pupils sometimes act it out with cardboard shields. Science: many pet tortoises in the UK are from the genus Testudo.

### examples

- The legionaries formed a testudo to protect themselves. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/testudo/#x1)
- In the testudo, the soldiers' shields made a roof. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/testudo/#x2)
- Testudo is Latin for tortoise. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/testudo/#x3)
- Our class made a testudo with cardboard shields. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/testudo/#x4)
- The arrows bounced off the testudo. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/testudo/#x5)
- Hermann's tortoise belongs to the genus Testudo. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/testudo/#x6)

### note

Said «tes-TOO-doh». Latin word. Plural: testudos (or the Latin testudines). The science name is written with a capital T and in italics: Testudo.

### In the corpora

- [In the testudo, or tortoise formation, soldiers locked their shields above and around them to protect against arrows.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/14-rome-the-empire-the-legions-and-the-roads/11/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «testudo» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/T/testudo/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.