scute

Noun

scute (plural scutes)

1. A horny, chitinous, or bony external plate or scale, as on the shell of a turtle, the skin of crocodiles, or the feet and legs of birds.
   • Then one afternoon, as he's stripping the scutes and hide from a shortnose sturgeon, an idea hits him.1982, TC Boyle, Water Music, Penguin, published 2006, page 71
2. A proneural gene, often associated with achaete, that is required for the formation of many larval and adult sense organs
3. (obsolete) A small shield.
   • But yet they ouer shote vs
     Wyth crownes and wyth scutus;
     With scutis and crownes of gold
     I drede we are bought and solde; […]a. 1530 (date written), John Skelton, “Here after Foloweth a Lytell Boke, whiche hath to Name Why Come Ye Nat to Courte? […]”, in Alexander Dyce, editor, The Poetical Works of John Skelton: […]...
4. (historical) An old French gold coin.