CŎVĪNUS

(Celtic, kowain ), a kind of car, the spokes of which were armed with long sickles, and which was used as a scythe-chariot chiefly by the ancient Belgians and Britons. The Romans designated, by the name of covin us, a kind of travelling carriage, which seems to have been covered on all sides with the exception of the front. It had no seat for a driver, but was conducted by the traveller himself, who sat inside. The covinarii (this word occurs only in Tacitus) seem to have constituted a regular and distinct part of a British army. Compare E edum .