stellion (stelyon)

[L. stellio, a newt, a lizard marked with star-like spots, also a crafty, knavish person (cf. stellionate ), When the stellion hath cast his skin, he greedily devours it again. Rev. T. Adams, Works, L. 79. stellionate (stel'yon-at), n. [ stellion at us , cozenage, trickery, stellio (n-), a crafty, knavish person, lit. a newt, lizard: see stellion .] In Scots and civil law , a word used to denote all such crimes in which fraud is an ingredient as have no special names to distinguish them, and are not defined by any written law. Stellio nidæ (stel-i-on'i-dē), n . pl . [NL., Stel lio (n-) + -idæ .] A family of Old World acrodont agamoid lizards, named from the genus Stellio , properly merged in Agamidæ ; the stellions or star-lizards. See cut under Stellio . stellular (stel'u-lär), a. [L. stellula , a little star, dim. of stella , a star: see stella .] Finely or numerously stellated, as if spangled with little stars; stelliferous, as the surface of a coral; shaped like a little star; resembling little stars; small and stelliform in figure or appearance. Encyc. Brit . , XVI. 370.