integument

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a natural outer covering that protects an organism or one of its parts, such as skin, a shell, or a seed coat

   The beetle's hard integument protects its softer internal tissues.

2. 2
   noun

   either of the layers surrounding an ovule that later develop into a seed coat

   After fertilization, the ovule's integument develops into the protective seed coat.

Borrowed from Latin integumentum, 'a covering,' from integere, 'to cover,' formed from in- and tegere, 'to cover or protect.' The same Latin root appears in protect and tegument.

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