integument

English

WOTD – 7 April 2009

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin integumentum (“a covering”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, General American) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈtɛɡ.jʊ.mənt/
• (US)

  Audio (US)

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Noun

integument (plural integuments)

1. A shell or other outer protective layer.
   • 2022, China Miéville, chapter 6, in A Spectre, Haunting: On the Communist Manifesto, →OCLC:

     […] if we're moved by the book's condemnation of a world wounded by exploitation, where the drive for profit hobbles the mass of humanity, bolsters vast integuments of oppression and repression, […]

2. (biology) An outer protective covering such as the feathers or skin of an animal, a rind or shell.
   • 1984, Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous:

     Sarsem became a naked young epicene in an integument of lavender scales with puffs of purple hair like pom-poms growing down his back.

3. (botany) The outer layer of an ovule, which develops into the seed coat.
   • 1920, D.H. Lawrence, chapter 1, in Women in Love:

     Her active living was suspended, but underneath, in the darkness, something was coming to pass. If only she could break through the last integuments!

Derived terms

• integumental
• integumentary

Related terms

• tegument

Translations

outer protective covering of body

• Bulgarian: външна обвивка (vǎnšna obvivka)
• Dutch: bekleedsel (nl), huid (nl)
• Finnish: integumentti, ruumiinpeite
• French: tégument (fr) m
• Ido: tegumento (io)
• Norwegian: integument n
• Ottoman Turkish: گوملك‎ (gömlek)
• Romanian: tegument (ro) n, înveliș (ro) n
• Russian: покро́в (ru) m (pokróv)
• Spanish: integumento m

outer layer of an ovule

• Dutch: omhulsel (nl)
• Finnish: integumentti, siemenaiheen kalvo
• French: tégument (fr) m
• Norwegian: integument n

See also

• bitegmic
• endotegmic
• exotegmic
• mesotegmic
• unitegmic

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French integumentum, from Latin integumentum.

Noun

integument n (plural integumente)

1. integument

Declension

Declension of integument

	singular		plural
	indefinite articulation	definite articulation	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) integument	integumentul	(niște) integumente	integumentele
genitive/dative	(unui) integument	integumentului	(unor) integumente	integumentelor
vocative	integumentule		integumentelor