Dictionary:

carapace

  (kăr'ə-pās')

1. Zoology. A hard bony or chitinous outer covering, such as the fused dorsal plates of a turtle or the portion of the exoskeleton covering the head and thorax of a crustacean.
2. A protective, shell-like covering likened to that of a turtle or crustacean: “He used to worry that Sarah would age the same way, develop the same brittle carapace” (Anne Tyler).

[French, from Spanish carapacho.]

A carapace has to be the ultimate thick skin: if you've got one you're protected against sticks, stones and name-calling. Journalist Gwen Ifill, writing in The New York Times, laments the racial slurs hurled by radio host Don Imus at the mostly black members of Rutgers' female basketball team:

"It is about the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. That game had to be the biggest moment of their lives, and the outcome the biggest disappointment. They are not old enough, or established enough, to have built up the sort of carapace many women I know — black women in particular — develop to guard themselves against casual insult."

Link: Trash Talk Radio - New York Times

Posted April 11, 2007.

See our Word Overheard blog to see interesting uses of strange words.

The dorsal shell of turtles and tortoises. Abnormalities are caused by trauma, dietary deficiencies (particularly nutritional hyperparathyroidism), infections, environmental factors and tumors.

Carapace of the tortoise. By permission from Aspinall V, O'Reilly M, Introduction to Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology, Butterworth Heinemann, 2004

A carapace is a dorsal section of an exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups.

Diagram of a prawn, with the carapace highlighted in orange

Crustaceans

In crustaceans, the carapace is a part of the exoskeleton that covers the cephalothorax. It is particularly well developed in lobsters and crabs. It functions as a protective cover over the cephalothorax. Where it projects forward beyond the eyes, this projection is called a rostrum. The carapace is calcified to varying degrees from subgroup to subgroup.

Diagram of an arachnid, with the carapace highlighted in purple

Arachnida

In arachnids, the carapace is formed by the fusion of prosomal (= of cephalothorax) tergites into a single plate which carries the eyes, ocularium, ozopores (a pair of openings of the scent gland of Opiliones) and diverse phaneres. In a few orders, such as Solifugae and Schizomida it may be subdivided. In Opiliones some authors prefer to use the term carapace interchangeably with cephalothorax, which is incorrect, because carapace referes only to the dorsal part of it.

The scutes of a turtle's carapace

Turtles and tortoises

The carapace is the dorsal, convex part of the shell structure of a turtle, consisting primarily of the animal's broad ribcage. The spine and ribs are fused to bony plates beneath the skin which interlock to form a hard shell. Exterior to the skin the shell is covered by scutes, horny plates which protect the shell from scrapes and bruises. Turtles can survive surprisingly severe injuries to the carapace, and even deep cracks or missing portions can fill in with bone and heal. The softshell turtles, pig-nose turtle and leatherback sea turtle lack scutes and the bony carapace is covered only by skin. The carapaces of many species of turtles are brightly colored and patterned and allow individuals to identify others of their species at a distance. The carapaces expand and grow outward like growth rings on a tree as the turtle or tortoise matures. The consistency of the carapace resembles to hard keratin rather than bone. The plastron makes up the lower half of a turtle's shell.

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - rygskjold

Nederlands (Dutch)
schild/schaal van schildpad/ schelpdier

Français (French)
n. - (lit, fig) carapace

Deutsch (German)
n. - Rückenschild, Schale

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - χελωνόστρακο, χελωνοκαύκαλο

Italiano (Italian)
carapace

Português (Portuguese)
n. - carapaça (f), couraça (f)

Русский (Russian)
панцирь

Español (Spanish)
n. - caparazón

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - ryggsköld

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
甲壳, 壳

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 甲殼, 殼

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 게나 거북이의 등 딱지, 마음의 가면

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 甲羅, 甲殻

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) غلاف عظمي يغطي ظهر السلحفاة و غيرها‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮שריון הצב‬

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