membrane

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: mem=brane

CIDE DICTIONARY

membrane, n. [F., fr. L. membrana the skin that covers the separate members of the body, fr. L. membrum. See Member.].

 A thin layer or fold of tissue, usually supported by a fibrous network, serving to cover or line some part or organ, and often secreting or absorbing certain fluids.  [1913 Webster]
" The term is also often applied to the thin, expanded parts, of various texture, both in animals and vegetables."  [1913 Webster]

Adventitious membrane, a membrane connecting parts not usually connected, or of a different texture from the ordinary connection; as, the membrane of a cicatrix. -- Jacob's membrane. See under Retina. -- Mucous membranes (Anat.), the membranes lining passages and cavities which communicate with the exterior, as well as ducts and receptacles of secretion, and habitually secreting mucus. -- Schneiderian membrane. (Anat.) See Schneiderian. -- Serous membranes (Anat.) , the membranes, like the peritoneum and pleura, which line, or lie in, cavities having no obvious outlet, and secrete a serous fluid.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

membrane, n.
1 any pliable sheetlike structure acting as a boundary, lining, or partition in an organism.
2 a thin pliable sheet or skin of various kinds.

Derivative

membranaceous adj. membraneous adj. membranous adj.

Etymology

L membrana skin of body, parchment (as MEMBER)

THESAURUS

membrane

allantoic membrane, amnion, amniotic sac, arachnoid membrane, basement membrane, coat, coating, collop, conjuctiva, covering, cut, deal, disk, eardrum, feuille, film, flap, foil, fold, hymen, lamella, lamina, laminated glass, laminated wood, lap, leaf, maidenhead, membrana serosa, membrana tympana, meninges, meninx, neurilemma, pane, panel, patina, peel, pellicle, pericardium, perineurium, plait, plank, plate, plating, pleura, ply, plywood, rasher, safety glass, scum, serosa, sheet, skin, slab, slat, slice, table, tablet, tympanic membrane, tympanum, velum, veneer, wafer

ROGET THESAURUS

membrane

Layer

N layer, stratum, strata, course, bed, zone, substratum, substrata, floor, flag, stage, story, tier, slab, escarpment, table, tablet, dess, flagstone, board, plank, trencher, platter, plate, lamina, lamella, sheet, foil, wafer, scale, flake, peel, coat, pellicle, membrane, film, leaf, slice, shive, cut, rasher, shaving, integument, eschar, stratification, scaliness, nest of boxes, coats of an onion, monolayer, bilayer, trilayer, lamellar, lamellated, lamelliform, layered, laminated, laminiferous, micaceous, schistose, schistous, scaly, filmy, membranous, pellicular, flaky, squamous, foliated, foliaceous, stratified, stratiform, tabular, discoid, spathic, spathose, trilamellar, graphitic.