shield

Etymology 1

From Middle English scheld, shelde, from Old English scield (“shield”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeldu, from Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“cut, split”). Cognate with West Frisian skyld, Dutch schild (“shield”), German Schild (“shield”), Danish skjold (“shield”), Icelandic skjöldur (“shield”) and Faroese skjøldur (“shield”). Compare Latin scūtum (“shield”), Irish sciath (“shield”), Latgalian škīda (“shield”), Lithuanian skydas (“shield”), Russian щит (ščit, “shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover, protect”), *skey- (“to cut, split”).

noun

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.
      Knock go and come; God's vassals drop and die; And sword and shield, In bloody field, Doth win immortal fame. 1599, William Shakespeare, Henry V, act III, scene II, line 8
      The shields used by our Norman ancestors were the triangular or heater shield, the target or buckler, the roundel or rondache, and the pavais, pavache, or tallevas. 1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 22
   2. (figurative) One who protects or defends.
      Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. 1611, The Holy Bible, King James Version edition, Genesis 15:1
      Go muster men. My counsel is my shield; We must be brief when traitors brave the field. 1592, William Shakespeare, Richard III, act 4, scene 3, line 56
   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.
      The earth was excavated from the sunken cylinder; the shield was inserted into it, and the tunnelling began, the target being Wapping, on the opposite bank. The shield was an iron honeycomb containing thirty-six cells within which men dug the wall of mud before them. 2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, page 88
   5. (science fiction) A field of energy that protects or defends.
      Kinetic barriers, colloquially called "shields", provide protection against most mass accelerator weapons. Whether on a starship or a soldier's suit of armor, the basic principle remains the same. Kinetic barriers are repulsive mass effect fields projected from tiny emitters. These shields safely deflect small objects traveling at rapid velocities. This affords protection from bullets and other dangerous projectiles, but still allows the user to sit down without knocking away their chair. 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →OCLC, PC, scene: Kinetic Barriers ("Shields") Codex entry
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.
      The second and third quarters of the shield are indecipherable on the stone but clearer in two other representations of the arms, a painted wooden funeral hatchment for Mary Davie[…] 8 October 2012, Daniel W. Patterson, The True Image: Gravestone Art and the Culture of Scotch Irish Settlers in the Pennsylvania and Carolina Backcountry, UNC Press Books, page 141
   2. (Scotland, euphemistic, obsolete) A toilet seat.
   3. A spot resembling, or having the form of a shield.
      Bespotted as with shields of red and black. 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene
   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.
      The chief put something in his hand and Bosch looked down to see the gold detective's shield. 2005, Michael Connelly, The closers: a novel
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. (figurative, Scotland, euphemistic, obsolete) A place with a toilet seat: an outhouse; a lavatory.
5. (automotive, British) Parts at the front and back of a vehicle which are meant to absorb the impact of a collision

Etymology 2

From Middle English shelden, from Old English scildan.

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To protect, to defend.
   Sunscreen shields against the harmful effects of solar rays.
   Shots rang out and a 15-year-old boy, shielding a woman from the line of fire, was killed. 2004, Chris Wallace, “Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name)
2. (UK, intransitive) To shelter; to protect oneself.
   The government has updated its guidance for people who are shielding taking into account that COVID-19 disease levels have decreased over the last few weeks. May 31 2020, “Guidance on shielding and protecting people who are clinically extremely vulnerable from COVID-19”, in GOV.UK
3. (electricity) To protect from the influence of.