noun.
Either of the leathery or chitinous forewings of a beetle or a related insect, serving to encase the membranous hind wings used in flight.
The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
noun.
See elytrum.
the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
noun.
One of the anterior pair of wings in the Coleoptera and some other insects, when they are thick and serve only as a protection for the posterior pair.
noun.
One of the shieldlike dorsal scales of certain annelids. See chætopoda.
noun.
A sheath or outer covering, especially around the spinal cord or over the hindwings of certain insects.
WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
noun.
either of the horny front wings in beetles and some other insects which cover and protect the functional hind wings
Word Usage
"I had assumed the yellow and black part was the wing cover the elytron of a beetle and the membranous part, which I thought was sticking out from underneath, was the hind wing."