• IPA: /ʃiːld/

From Middle English scheld, shelde, from Old English scield, from Proto-West Germanic *skeldu, from Proto-Germanic *skelduz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH-.

Compare Latin scūtum, Irish sciath, Latgalian škīda, Lithuanian skydas, Russian щит, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover, protect”), *skey- ("to cut, split").

shield (plural shields)

1. Anything that protects or defends; defense; shelter; protection.
   1. A broad piece of defensive armor, held in hand, formerly in general use in war, for the protection of the body.
      • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC ↗:

        My client welcomed the judge […] and they disappeared together into the Ethiopian card-room, which was filled with the assegais and exclamation point shields Mr. Cooke had had made at the sawmill at Beaverton.

   2. (figurative) One who protects or defends.
   3. (lichenology) In lichens, a hardened cup or disk surrounded by a rim and containing the fructification, or asci.
   4. (mining, tunnelling) A framework used to protect workmen in making an adit under ground, and capable of being pushed along as excavation progresses.
   5. (science fiction) A field of energy that protects or defends.
2. A shape like that of a shield; usually, an inverted triangle with sides that curve inward to form a pointed bottom, commonly used for police identifications and company logos.
   1. (heraldry) The escutcheon or field on which are placed the bearings in coats of arms.
   2. (Scotland, euphemism, obsolete) A toilet seat.
   3. A spot resembling, or having the form of a shield.
   4. (obsolete) A coin, the old French crown, or écu, having on one side the figure of a shield.
   5. (transport) A sign or symbol, usually containing numbers and sometimes letters, identifying a highway route.
   6. (colloquial, law enforcement) A police badge.
3. (geology) A large expanse of exposed stable Precambrian rock.
   1. (geology) A wide and relatively low-profiled volcano, usually composed entirely of lava flows.
4. (figuratively, Scotland, euphemism, obsolete) A place with a toilet seat: an outhouse; a lavatory.
5. (automotive, British English) Parts at the front and back of a vehicle which are meant to absorb the impact of a collision

• (place with a toilet seat) See Thesaurus:bathroom

• French: bouclier, écu
• German: Schild (also: Schild, see the entry for more information)
• Italian: scudo
• Portuguese: escudo
• Russian: щит
• Spanish: escudo, chimal (New Mexico)

• French: bouclier
• German: Schutz
• Italian: scudo, protezione, rifugio, riparo, copertura
• Portuguese: escudo
• Russian: защи́та
• Spanish: escudo

• French: écu
• Russian: щит

• Russian: щит

• French: écu

• French: bouclier
• Russian: щит

• Russian: щит

From Middle English shelden, from Old English scildan.

shield (shields, present participle shielding; simple past and past participle shielded)

1. (ambitransitive) To protect, to defend.

   Sunscreen shields against the harmful effects of solar rays.

2. (UK, intransitive) To shelter; to protect oneself.
3. (electricity) To protect from the influence of.

• French: protéger
• German: beschützen
• Italian: proteggere
• Portuguese: proteger
• Russian: защища́ть
• Spanish: proteger, blindar

1. Surname.