Standard Lemma guide

tegument

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈtɛɡ.jʊ.mənt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Something which covers; a covering or coating.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncommon

Examples

  • 1658: But in the Homericall Urne of Patroclus, whatever was the solid Tegument, we finde the immediate covering to be a purple peece of silk — Sir Thomas Browne, Urne-Burial (Penguin 2005, p. 21)

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A natural covering of the body or of a bodily organ; an integument.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

Topics: anatomy, medicine, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • your skin is the largest organ of your body

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: skin, cutis

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: body covering, connective tissue

Narrower terms: investment, thick skin, skin graft, buff, dewlap, prepuce, foreskin, scalp, cuticle, hangnail, agnail

History

Etymology

Also in late Middle English, borrowed from Latin tegumentum (“a cover”), from tegere (“to cover, clothe”, verb) + -mentum (suffix forming nouns). Compare integument.

Across languages

Translations

9 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: couverture — something which covers
  • French: revêtement — something which covers
  • German: Bedeckung — something which covers
  • Ido: tegumento — something which covers
  • Polish: osłona — something which covers
  • Polish: oprawa — something which covers
  • Welsh: gorchudd — something which covers
  • Welsh: pilyn — something which covers
  • Welsh: tegmentwm — something which covers