Lewis & Short

Parsing inflected forms may not always work as expected. If the following does not give the correct word, try Latin Words or Perseus.

1. scŭtŭla, ae, f. dim. [scutra; cf. scutella].

  1. I. Lit., a little dish or platter of a nearly square form (cf. lanx), Cato, R. R. 68, 1; Mart. 11, 31, 19; 8, 71, 7.
  2. II. Transf., of figures thus shaped, a diamond-, rhomb-, or lozenge-shaped figure: (pavimenta) si sectilia sunt, nulli gradus in scutulis aut trigonis aut quadratis seu favis exstent, Vitr. 7, 1; so of a tesselated floor, Pall. 1, 9, 5; of checkered stuffs, Plin. 8, 48, 74, § 196 (cf. scutulatus); id. 17, 16, 26, § 118.
    Of the shape of a country: formam totius Britanniae eloquentissimi auctores oblongae scutulae vel bipenni assimulavere, Tac. Agr. 10.
    Of a patch on the eye, for a disguise: scutula ob oculos lanea, Plaut. Mil. 4, 4, 42.

‡ 2. scŭtŭla (in a Greek orthog. scy-tăla or scytălē; v. II. and III.), ae, f., = σκυτάλη (a staff, stick).

  1. I. A wooden roller or cylinder: quattuor biremes, subjectis scutulis, impulsas vectibus in interiorem partem transduxit, Caes. B. C. 3, 40, 4.
  2. II. A secret writing, secret letter among the Lacedaemonians (it being written on a slip of papyrus wrapped round a σκυτάλη; pure Lat. clava): scytala, Nep. Paus. 3, 4: scytale, Aus. Ep. 23, 23; cf. Gell. 17, 9, 15 (written as Greek, Cic. Att. 10, 10, 3, habes σκυτάλην Λακωνικήν).
  3. III. A cylindrical snake (of equal thickness throughout), Plin. 82, 5, 19, § 53; Luc. 9, 717; Sol. 27, § 30; cf. Col. 6, 17. 1.