Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In classical antiquity, a small and light buckler, as that introduced among the Athenian light-armed troops by Iphicrates, about 392 b. c., to take the place of the heavier shield, in order to increase their efficiency in marching and skirmishing.
- n. In botany, an apothecium of a lichen forming a flat shield without distinct exciple, as in the genus Peltigea; sometimes, also, a scale or bract attached by its middle.
- n. [capitalized] In conchology, a genus of gastropods, now called Runcina.
Wiktionary
- n. historical A small shield, especially one of an approximately elliptical form, or crescent-shaped.
- n. botany A flat apothecium having no rim.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Antiq.) A small shield, especially one of an approximately elliptic form, or crescent-shaped.
- n. (Bot.) A flat apothecium having no rim.
Etymologies
- Latin, a shield, from Ancient Greek πέλτη (peltē, "shield"). (Wiktionary)
Examples
““Catapult” means “shield-breaker,” “cata” meaning break or penetrate and “pelta” being the name ofthe shield used by the Greek light infantry.”
“For the preceding two years Iphicrates had commanded a body of mercenaries, consisting of peltasts, [So called from the pelta, or kind of shield which they carried.] who had been first organised by Conon after rebuilding the walls of Athens.”
A Smaller history of Greece From the earliest times to the Roman conquest
“The chief defensive weapon of the Asiatics was the pelta, or small shield in the form of a crescent; sometimes with, and sometimes with - out its curved side divided by a point into twin concavities.”
“Applied alfo to a ftigma, when it is round and flat, like a pelta.”
“Corallina (Androface) tu* bulofa fimplcx pelta tecminali radiata.”
“14 Peltasts, i.e. light infantry armed with the “pelta” or light shield, instead of the heavy aspis of the hoplite or heavy infantry soldiers.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘pelta’.
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Armor
Armet, helm, helmet, panoply, mail, Armour, shield, targe, scutcheon, escutcheon, ancile, buckler and 4 more...
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Palaeos Eukarya
Words that appear in the Palaeos Eukarya glossary.
acronema, actin, alpha chitin, alveoli, amino acid, antapical, antenna pigment, apical, apical complex, autogamy, axoneme, axopod and 134 more...
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Zoological Terms
Terms used in Zoology
papilionaceous, actinost, gressorial, exuviate, nitid, trochal, demiss, loculus, crebrity, limes, pachytrichous, pachydactyl and 319 more...
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Botanical Terms
Terms used in botany
contabescence, effloresce, foliate, acervate, nuciform, feracious, fructuous, bifarious, serotinous, sative, demiss, tardive and 168 more...
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