membrane English · revision 39437

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=?a1425, translation of Guy de Chauliac|origins=la membrum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * /ˈmɛm.bɹeɪn/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|membrāna|t=skin covering a part of the body; parchment]],^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(AHD 2024)^(MW Collegiate) from [[m|la|membrum|t=limb, member of the body]] with the feminine of the suffix [[m|la|-ānus]],^(OED 2026)^(Hoad 1986) so that it first meant what covers the limbs.^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) The anatomical sense may have come partly through [[fr|membrane]], a learned borrowing of the Latin word.^(Barnhart 1988)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A thin layer of tissue in the body: about 1425, in a translation of Guy de Chauliac's ''Grande Chirurgie'',^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) or the 15th century according to Merriam-Webster.^(MW Collegiate) Barnhart instead puts first the sense of parchment, in 1519, and the anatomical sense in 1615.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The parchment sense, each of the skins sewn into a roll, appears in William Horman's ''Vulgaria'' (1519).^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988) It was applied to plants from 1601, to the membranes round an embryo by William Harvey (1653), and in cell biology to the layer around a cell from 1832.^(OED 2026) Ben Jonson used it (1631) for any thin sheet or layer, and figuratively;^(OED 2026) in modern physics it also names a two-dimensional entity proposed in [[superstring]] theory.^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * ?a1425 – a thin layer of tissue.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1519 – a skin of parchment in a roll.^(OED 2026)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1601 – a layer of tissue in a plant.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1631 – any thin sheet or layer.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1653 – the membranes around an embryo.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1832 – the membrane of a cell.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(biology)'' A thin, pliable layer of [[tissue]] that covers, lines or joins organs or other parts.^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(biology)'' The layer of [[lipid|alt=lipids]] and proteins that encloses a [[cell]] or an [[organelle]].^(AHD 2024)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Any thin, pliable sheet of natural or artificial material, such as the skin of a drum or a filter.^(AHD 2024)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A skin of [[parchment]] forming part of a roll.^(AHD 2024)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''(physics)'' In superstring theory, a two-dimensional entity proposed as a basic constituent of [[matter]].^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[membranal]]

+ * [[membraned]]

+ * [[membraneless]]

+ * [[membranophone]]

+ * [[membranous]]

+ * [[endomembrane]]

+ * [[intermembrane]]

+ * [[transmembrane]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[member]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}