English → Latin
“shell” in Latin
cortexthe bark of a tree; the bark of a cork tree; cork; the shell or outward part or covering of anything else; body; life prcrustathe hard surface of a body; rind, shell, crust, bark, scab; plaster, mosaic or stucco work on a wallcoriumanimal skin; hide, fell; leather; leather belt, whip; crust, coat, peel, shellcutisliving human skin; rind, surface; the appearance, outside of somethingputāmencutting, clipping (that which is cut away); shell, peel (removed from eggs, vegetables etc.)testaa piece of burned clay, brick, tile; a sort of clapping with the flat of the hands (as if with two tiles), in token of afolliculusa small bellows; a small sack; an inflated ball (for sport)tunicatunic, an undergarment worn by both men and women; a coating, membrane, peel; a military cloakbeōto bless; to gladden; to enrich (with)dēpōnōto lay, set, put or place aside or away; deposit; to resign, get rid of, give up; to wager, stake, bet
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
shell s.
cortex (e.g., of nuts): crusta (a crust; hard, thick coat): corium (a leather-like covering e.g., of chestnuts): cutis (a thin covering, skin): putamen (of eggs, nuts, beans, testaceous animals): testa (of animals, and eggs): folliculus (of pulse and corn): tunica (husk of corn).
shell v.
Transitively, putamen alicui rei detrahere; desquamare (to take off the scales).
Intransitively, cutem, corticem, etc., deponere, exuere, desquamari (in scales). To shell teeth, dentes cadunt, excidunt.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for shell?
- The usual Latin words for “shell” are cortex, crusta, corium; also cutis, putāmen, testa. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.