(1) In protozoology, usually termed test; an envelope of certain forms of ameboid protozoa, consisting of various earthy materials cemented to a chitinous base (as in the testate rhizopods of the subclass Testacealobosia) or the calcareous, siliceous, organic, or strontium sulfate skeletons in the rhizopod subclass Foraminifera. (2) In botany, the outer, sometimes the only, coat of a seed. [L. shell]
