Standard Lemma guide

sheltron

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈʃɛltɹən/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A compact body of troops forming a battle array or phalanx, especially such a body of Scottish troops armed with pikes during the Wars of Scottish Independence in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: historical

Topics: government, military, politics, war

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

PIE word *dóru From Middle English scheltroun, sheltroun (“group of soldiers or army in fighting formation, phalanx; battle, fighting; group of warships, fleet; (by extension) line or row of bones”) [and other forms], from Old English sċieldtruma (“company of soldiers, phalanx; covering; shed, shelter; tortoise”) [and other forms], from sċield (“shield; (figuratively) protection”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to cut; to separate, split”)) + truma (“band or troop of men”) (possibly from trum (“firm, strong; stable, steadfast”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *drew- (“firm, hard, solid; strong; tree”), *dóru (“tree”)). Doublet of shelter (which is the less conservative of the two).

Across languages

Translations

5 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Polish: schiltron — any compact body of troops forming a battle array or phalanx
  • Russian: шилтрон (šiltron) — any compact body of troops forming a battle array or phalanx
  • Slovak: šiltron — any compact body of troops forming a battle array or phalanx
  • Spanish: testudo — any compact body of troops forming a battle array or phalanx
  • Ukrainian: шилтрон (šyltron) — any compact body of troops forming a battle array or phalanx