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Integument
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{{Short description|Natural covering in biology}} {{hatnote|This article deals with the general meaning of the '''integument'''. Consult articles listed below for other articles dealing with similar or related concepts}} In biology, an '''integument''' is the tissue surrounding an organism's body or an organ within, such as [[skin]], a [[husk]], [[Exoskeleton|shell]], germ or [[Peel (fruit)|rind]].<ref name="isbn0-19-861271-0"/> == Etymology == The term is derived from ''integumentum'', which is [[Latin]] for "a covering". In a transferred, or figurative sense, it could mean a [[cloak]] or a [[disguise]].<ref name="Latin Cassel">{{cite book |author1=Marchant, J.R.V. |author2=Charles Joseph F. | title = Cassell's Latin dictionary | publisher = Cassell | location = London | year = 1952 }}</ref> In English, "integument" is a fairly modern word, its origin having been traced back to the early seventeenth century; and refers to a material or layer with which anything is enclosed, clothed, or covered in the sense of "clad" or "coated", as with a skin or husk.<ref name="isbn0-19-861271-0">{{cite book |author=Brown, Lesley |title=The New shorter Oxford English dictionary on historical principles |publisher=Clarendon |location=Oxford [Eng.] |year=1993 |isbn=0-19-861271-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/newshorteroxford00lesl }}</ref> == Botanical usage == In [[botany]], the term "integument" may be used as it is in zoology, referring to the covering of an organ. When the context indicates nothing to the contrary, the word commonly refers to an envelope covering the nucellus of the [[Ovule#Integuments, chivai and chalaza|ovule]]. The integument may consist of one layer (unitegmic) or two layers (bitegmic), each of which consisting of two or more layers of cells. The integument is perforated by a pore, the micropyle, through which the pollen tube can enter. It may develop into the testa, or [[seed]] coat. ==Zoological usage== The integument of an organ in [[zoology]] typically would comprise membranes of connective tissue such as those around a kidney or liver. In referring to the integument of an animal, the usual sense is its skin and its derivatives: the [[integumentary system]], where "integumentary" is a synonym of "[[Skin|cutaneous]]". In [[arthropod|arthropods]], the integument, or external "skin", consists of a single layer of [[epithelium|epithelial]] [[ectoderm]] from which arises the [[cuticle]],<ref name="Kristensen&Georges2003">{{cite book|last1=Kristensen|first1=Niels P.|last2=Georges|first2=Chauvin|title=Lepidoptera, Moths and Butterflies: Morphology, Physiology, and Development : Teilband|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5w8FgSGuH34C&pg=PA484|access-date=10 January 2013|date=1 December 2003|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-016210-3|page=484|chapter=Integument}}</ref> an outer covering of [[chitin]], the rigidity of which varies as per its chemical composition. ==Derivative terms and sundry usages== Derivative terms include various adjectival forms such as integumentary (e.g. system), integumental (e.g. integumental glands, "peltate glands, the integument being raised like a bladder due to abundant secretion"<ref name="BotGloss">Jackson, Benjamin, Daydon; A Glossary of Botanic Terms with their Derivation and Accent; Published by Gerald Duckworth & Co. London, 4th ed 1928</ref>) and integumented (as opposed to bare).<ref>{{cite book |editor = Collocott TC | title = Dictionary of Science and Technology | publisher = W. and R. Chambers | location = Edinburgh | year = 1974 | isbn = 0-550-13202-3 }}</ref> Other illustrative examples of usage occur in the following articles: *[[Connective tissue in skeletal muscle]] *[[Dorsal artery of the penis]] (example of integument enclosing an internal organ) *[[Flensing]] *[[Flesh]] (generic use of plural "integuments") *[[Herzog & de Meuron]] (figurative usage) *[[Integumentary system]] (senses related to vertebrate skin and medical aspects) *[[Cat anatomy#Muscles|Integumental muscles]] *[[Mosasaur#Soft tissue|Mosasaur]] *[[Seed]] ==References== {{Reflist}} {{Authority control}} [[Category:Animal anatomy]] [[Category:Skin]] [[Category:Organs (anatomy)]] [[Category:Plant anatomy]]
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