chelys

From the Ancient Greek χέλῡς (khélūs, “tortoise”).

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈkʰɛ.lys]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈkɛː.lis]

chelys f (genitive chelyos or chelyis); third declension

1. a tortoise
2. a tortoise shell, a lyre or harp made of a tortoise shell

Third-declension noun (Greek-type, normal variant).

¹In poetry.

In Classical Latin, only the nominative, accusative, ablative and vocative singular are attested.

• lyra

• chelydrus

• “chelys”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “chelys”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• chelys in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “chelys”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “chelys”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin