carapace

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English

Diagram of a prawn, with the carapace highlighted in red.
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

Borrowed from French carapace (“tortoise shell”), from Spanish carapacho, of unknown origin, but likely from an extinct Ibero-Mediterranean substrate language.

Compare Catalan carabassa, Ancient Greek κάραβος (kárabos, “beetle”), Latin scarabaeus (the source of scarab); also Spanish galápago (“kind of turtle”). Doublet of calipash.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈkɛɹ.əˌpeɪs/, /ˈkæ.ɹəˌpeɪs/
  • Audio (Southern England)(file)

Noun

carapace (plural carapaces)

  2. A hard protective covering of bone or chitin, especially one which covers the dorsal portion of an animal.
  3. in figurative use
    • 1928, Edward A. Ross, World Drift, New York, London: The Century Co., page 12:
      So, little by little, youth loosens the hard carapace of confining custom their elders have built over the human heart.
    • 2010 January 8, Simon Jenkins, “The proliferation of nuclear panic is politics at its most ghoulish”, in The Guardian, §: “Comment & Debate”, page 29, column 4:
      This is all a massive failure of science to pierce the carapace of public ignorance.

Related terms

Translations

See also

References

  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “carapace”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish carapacho (“carapace, shell”), of uncertain origin.

Pronunciation

Noun

carapace f (plural carapaces)

  1. shell

Descendants

  • → English: carapace
  • → English: calipash
  • → Italian: carapace
  • → Portuguese: carapaça
  • → Romanian: carapace

References

  1. ^ “carapace”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Italian

Italian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia it

Etymology

Borrowed from French carapace (“tortoise shell”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ka.raˈpa.t͡ʃe/
  • Rhymes: -atʃe
  • Hyphenation: ca‧ra‧pà‧ce

Noun

carapace m (plural carapaci)

  1. carapace

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French carapace.

Noun

carapace f (plural carapace)

  1. shell (of a turtle)

Declension

Declension of carapace
singular plural
indefinite articulation definite articulation indefinite articulation definite articulation
nominative/accusative (o) carapace carapacea (niște) carapace carapacele
genitive/dative (unei) carapace carapacei (unor) carapace carapacelor
vocative carapace, carapaceo carapacelor
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