Meanings
plural periostea · plural periosteums
- A membrane surrounding a bone.
The periosteum is constrained and interrupted by tendons, ligaments, and fibrocartilage, whereas the endosteum is awash with hematopoitic bone marrow[…].
2011, Corey M. Maggiano, “Making the Mold: A Microstructural Perspective on Bone Modeling during Growth and Mechanical Adaptation”, in Christian Crowder, Sam Stout, editors, Bone Histology: An Anthropological Perspective, Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, →ISBN, page 521 more example
Periosteum and endosteum are connective tissue sheaths of bone. […] The periosteum is a layer of connective tissue covering the external surface of a bone. The periosteum may be divided into two components: / a. An outer fibrous layer consists of dense irregular connective tissue. / b. An inner cellular layer consists of osteoprogenitor (osteogenic) cells.
1997, Ray C. Henrikson, Gordon I. Kaye, Joseph E. Mazurkiewicz, “Bone”, in Histology (National Medical Series for Independent Study), Baltimore, Md.: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, →ISBN, page 131
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Ancient Greekπερί“about, around”
- Englishperiosteum
From Ancient Greek περί (perí, “about, around”) + ὀστέον (ostéon, “bone”).
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic سِمْحَاق
- سِمْحَاق (simḥāq)membrane surrounding a bone
Bulgarian надкостница
- надкостница (nadkostnica)membrane surrounding a bone
Czech okostice
- okosticemembrane surrounding a bone
Dutch beenvlies, periosteum
- beenvliesmembrane surrounding a bone
- periosteummembrane surrounding a bone
- periostmembrane surrounding a bone
Finnish luukalvo
- luukalvomembrane surrounding a bone
French périoste
- périostemembrane surrounding a bone
German Knochenhaut, Periost
- Knochenhautmembrane surrounding a bone
- Periostmembrane surrounding a bone
Italian percutaneo
- percutaneomembrane surrounding a bone
Māori kiriuhi wheua
- kiriuhi wheuamembrane surrounding a bone
Polish okostna
- okostnamembrane surrounding a bone
Portuguese periósteo
- periósteomembrane surrounding a bone
Romanian periost
- periostmembrane surrounding a bone
Russian надко́стница
- надко́стница (nadkóstnica)membrane surrounding a bone
Swedish benhinna
- benhinnamembrane surrounding a bone
Tagalog bambambuto
- bambambutomembrane surrounding a bone
Cite this entry
periosteum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/periosteum
“periosteum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/periosteum. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “periosteum,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/periosteum.
Source: periosteum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.