integumentary

Integumentary is an adjective used to refer to a covering or coating, especially natural coatings like skin, shells, and rinds.

An integument is any coating or covering, but the term is primarily used for the outer layer of natural things like animals and plants. Integumentary is especially used in the term integumentary system to refer to the system of the human body that includes the skin and related things like hair and nails.

Example: The integumentary layers of animals and plants are very different, but they often serve similar purposes.

The first records of integumentary come from around the mid-1800s. Integumentary uses the suffix -ary, meaning “related to” (seen in terms for other bodily systems like pulmonary), to create the adjective form of the noun integument. Integument is older—first recorded in the 1600s—and comes from the Latin word integumentum, meaning “a covering.”

Integumentary is commonly used in biology and related fields when discussing the skin of humans and animals. In humans, the integumentary system includes the skin, hair, and nails, as well as skin glands. The skin is the body’s largest organ, and the integumentary system plays an important role in functions like protecting the body and regulating heat. In animals, integumentary structures include things like feathers and hooves. The integumentary system of plants includes several components that have the same names as parts of the human body, including epidermis, cuticles, and glands.

What are some other forms of integumentary?

• integument (noun)
• subintegumenary (adjective)

What are some words that share a root or word element with integumentary? 

• tegument
• pulmonary
• alimentary

What are some words that often get used in discussing integumentary?

• skin
• covering
• shell
• rind
• dermis
• epidermis
• cutaneous

Integumentary is primarily used in the context of biology when discussing the outer layers of living things, including the skin of humans and animals and the covering of plants.

Yes skin is an organ; the largest in the integumentary system

— Emily Wright (@ParamedLoading) November 20, 2019

Feathers, filaments and bristles ❤️
I love these reconstructions, such a great representation of the range of integumentary structures that #dinosaurs had! Also a great illustration of the colors known for these animals 🦖 https://t.co/6aoaNTMcgg

— Sarah Davis (@PaleoFeathers) May 23, 2019

Okay, so the Terminator is supposedly extremely convincing including "sweat, bad breath." That means it has a working tongue, mouth, teeth, etc. What other organs does it have? Is it just the integumentary system? Does it have a full alimentary canal?

— Todd in the Shadows (@ShadowTodd) October 28, 2019

Is integumentary used correctly in the following sentence?

The integumentary layer is on the inside and is covered by several other layers.