noun · masculinesecond declension
clipeus
clipeus m (genitive clipeī)
Classical[ˈklɪ.pe.ʊs]Ecclesiastical[ˈkliː.pe.us]
Mille Verba core vocabulary
Meaning
- masculinea type of large round shield, properly: a type of round shield that was convex (bowl-shaped), at least around 0.9 m in diameter, and was gripped at the edge, with a fastening for the forearm in the middle
Near-synonyms: parma, scūtum
“At geminī lāpsū dēlūbra ad summa dracōnēs effugiunt saevaeque petunt Trītōnidis arcem
“But the two serpents escape by gliding [away] to the highest temples [of Troy], and seek the citadel of the fierce Tritonian [Minerva], [where] they shelter beneath the feet of the goddess and under the disc of [her] shield.”29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 2.225–227 - masculinedisk of the sun
- masculinevault of the sky
- New Latinmasculineoval or other types of shields adopted in the Roman army of Late Antiquity after the Crisis of the Third Century
Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers
arma in fōrmam orbis facta, quae corpus tegunt; mīles clipeō sē tegit.clipeus -ī m — in Mille Verba, Castra in Aegyptō
scūtum rotundumclipeus -ī (m) — in IVLIANVS I: Gallia, ch. 5 and Metamorphoses I, ch. 10
Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms
Scutum · Clypeus · Parma
Scutum (σκύτος) is a larger shield, covering the whole body, σάκος; clypeus and parma smaller shields of a round form, ἀσπίς; clypeus (κλοπιός, καλύψαι) for foot-soldiers; parma (πάλμη) for horse-soldiers also; lastly, pelta (πέλτη) a small shield in the form of a half-moon; cetra, a small leathern shield. Liv. ix. 19. Macedonibus clupeus . . . Romano scutum, majus corpori tegumentum. Liv. xxxi. 36. Cetratos, quos peltastas vocant, in insidiis abdiderat.
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | clipeus clipeolum, clypeum | clipeī clipeola, clupeī, clypea |
| genitive | clipeī clipeolī, clupeī, clypeī | clipeōrum clipeolōrum, clupeōrum, clypeōrum |
| dative | clipeō clipeolō, clupeō, clypeō | clipeīs clipeolīs, clupeīs, clypeīs |
| accusative | clipeum clipeolum, clupeum, clypeum | clipeōs clipeola, clupeōs, clypea |
| ablative | clipeō clipeolō, clupeō, clypeō | clipeīs clipeolīs, clupeīs, clypeīs |
| vocative | clipee clipeolum, clupee, clypeum | clipeī clipeola, clupeī, clypea |
clĭpĕus (in inscrr. and MSS. also clŭp- and clўp-), i, m. (clĭpĕum, i, n., Verg. A. 9, 709; Liv. 1, 43, 2; 34, 52, 5; 35, 10, 12; 38, 35, 5; 40, 51, 3; Licin. et Laber. ap. Non. p. 196, 22 sq. al.) [root in clepo].
I. The round brazen shield of Roman soldiers (diff. from scutum, which was oval, and made of wood covered with bull's hide; cf. Dict. of Antiq. p. 268 sq.), Enn. ap. Varr. L. L. 7, § 93 Müll.; id. ap. Prisc. p. 838 P. (Enn. Ann. 364 Vahl.); Plaut. Trin. 2, 4, 195; 3, 2, 93; id. Truc. 2, 6, 25; Cic. Fin. 2, 30, 97; id. Div. 1, 44, 99; id. Tusc. 1, 15, 34; id. de Or. 2, 17, 73; Nep. Iphic. 1, 3; Liv. 1, 43, 2; 8, 8, 3; 9, 19, 7; Verg. A. 2, 443; 7, 626; 8, 447; Hor. C. 1, 28, 11; Ov. M. 8, 27; 12, 621.—Prov.:
clipeum post vulnera sumere, i. e. to do something when it is too late, Ov. Tr. 1, 3, 35. —B. Trop., a shield, protection, defence, Claud. IV. Cons. Hon. 433.—
II. Meton., of objects in the form of a shield. *
A. The vault of heaven: in altisono caeli clupeo, Enn. ap. Varr. L. L. 7, § 73 Müll.—*
B. The disk of the sun, Ov. M. 15, 192.—
C. A round meteor:
clipei et vastorum imagines ignium, Sen. Q. N. 1, 1, 15; 7, 20, 2; Plin. 2, 34, 34, § 100.—But esp. freq., D. A bust of the gods or distinguished men, represented upon a shield-formed surface (of gold, silver, etc., skilfully prepared, and often laid up as sacred gifts in the temples; so mostly in neutr. form; v. supra init.):
scutis qualibus apud Trojam pugnatum est, continebantur imagines, unde et nomen habuere clipeorum, Plin. 35, 3, 4, § 13; Liv. 25, 39, 13; 35, 10, 12; Tac. A. 2, 83; Suet. Calig. 16; id. Dom. 23; Dig. 9, 3, 5 fin.—E. Clipeum antiqui ob rotunditatem etiam corium bovis appellarunt, in quo foedus Gabinorum cum Romanis fuerat descriptum, Paul. ex Fest. p. 56 Müll. (cf. the same use of ὅπλον, Corp. Inscr. Graec. II. p. 664).
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
clipeus (clup-) ī, m, or clipeum, ī, n
CLEP-, a round shield of metal: speciem inclusit in clupeo: maximis clipeis uti, N.: clipeos ad tela sinistris obicere, V.—Prov.: clipeum post volnera sumere, i. e. to act too late, O.—Poet.: dei (Phoebi) clipeus, i. e. the sun's disk, O.—A metallic tablet for a relief, medallion: argenteum, L.
Origins
Unknown. The variation between -i- and -u- is observed elsewhere after -l-, as in libet and lubet.
Descendants
- Englishclipeus
- Italianclipeo
- Portugueseclípeo
- Spanishclípeo
- Byzantine Greekκλίπεος