pelta noun. ['pɛltǝ] Pl. -tae [-ti:]. Also Anglicized as pelt. E17.
[Latin from Greek peltē a small light leather shield.]
1. Classical Antiquities. A small light shield; a buckler. E17.

2. Botany. Any of various shieldlike structures; spec. (in a lichen) a flat apothecium without an excipulum. M18.

3. An ornamental motif resembling a shield in architecture, metalwork, etc. E20.

■ peltate adjective (a) Botany shield-shaped; spec. (of a leaf etc.) more or less circular and having the stalk attached at a point on the underside; (b) (of architecture, metalwork, etc.) ornamented with a pelta or peltae: M18.

■ peltately adverb E19.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲