carapace
nounUS /ˈkɛɹ.əˌpeɪs/ · /ˈkæ.ɹəˌpeɪs/
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.
1
A hard protective covering of bone or chitin, especially one which covers the dorsal portion of an animal.
2
Figuratively That which protects.
- So, little by little, youth loosens the hard carapace of confining custom their elders have built over the human heart.1928, Edward A. Ross, World Drift, New York; London: The Century Co., page 12:
- This is all a massive failure of science to pierce the carapace of public ignorance.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:
- Derived terms
- carapaced, carapacelike, carapaceous, carapacial, carapacic, pseudocarapace
- Related terms
- exoskeleton