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.—
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.
