Meanings
nountegmen (plural tegmens or tegmina)
plural tegmens · plural tegmina
- biologyA covering or integument, usually referring to a thin layer or membrane in an organism.
- biologyAn integument such as the inner membrane of the coat of a seed.
- anatomyA covering such as the thin layer of bone in the roof of the middle ear of mammals.
- biologyIn insects such as winged cockroaches and locusts, the stiff, membranous fore wings; in many species they are not primarily used for flight, but serve as protective covering for the delicate hind wings, which are the main organs of flight. The more heavily armoured fore-wings of most beetles are called elytra, not tegmina.
Origin
- Latintegmen
- Englishtegmen
From New Latin, from Latin tegmen, syncopated form of tegimen.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
tegmen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tegmen
MLA
“tegmen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tegmen. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tegmen,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tegmen.
Source: tegmen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.