scutum

noun

1. 1.An oblong shield made of boards or wickerwork covered with leather, with sometimes an iron rim; carried chiefly by the heavy-armed infantry of the Roman army.
2. 2.A scute.
3. 3.A shield-like protection, such as the scutum protecting the back of a hard tick (cf. alloscutum, conscutum)
4. 4.One of the two lower valves of the operculum of a barnacle.
5. 5.The kneecap.