clypeus

From Latin clipeus (“round shield”).

• IPA^(key): /ˈklɪpɪəs/

clypeus (plural clypei)

1. (entomology) The shield-shaped front part of an insect's head or a spider's cephalothorax.
   • 1990: Cuisinart stuck a human eyelash to his clypeus with saliva, twisted it into a handlebar mustache, and greeted citizens as they arrived at the rim of the sink. — Daniel Evan Weiss, The Roaches Have No King (Serpent's Tail 2001, p.16)
   • 1996: When viewed from the front, the part of the carapace between the anterior eyes and the front edge of the carapace is called the clypeus. — Michael J. Roberts, Spiders of Britain and Northern Europe (Collins 1996, p. 14)

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈkly.pe.us/, [ˈklʏ.pe.ʊs]

clypeus m (genitive clypeī); second declension

1. Alternative form of clipeus

Second declension.

• clypeus in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)