integumentary

[in-teg-yuh-men-tuh-ree]

adjective

1. of, relating to, or like an integument.

Other Word Forms

• subintegumentary adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of integumentary¹

First recorded in 1835–45; integument + -ary

Example Sentences

Were there whiskers, filaments or other integumentary structures on the snout and elsewhere?

From Scientific American

A similar arrangement is seen today in crocodiles and alligators, which have thousands of tiny sensitive bumps called integumentary sensory organs around their jaws.

From The Guardian

So, overall, we have a population of small, dark tapirs that can be distinguished osteologically, look obviously different in integumentary characters and body size from other living tapirs, and which exhibit unique molecular characters.

From Scientific American

Theropods weren’t the only Mesozoic tetrapods with a furry coat of integumentary fibres: we also know that pterosaurs were fuzzy too.

From Scientific American

Integration of morphological data sets for phylogenetic analysis of Amniota: the importance of integumentary characters and increased taxonomic sampling.

From Scientific American

When To Use

What does integumentary mean?

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.