membrane - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Late Middle English, borrowed from Latin membrāna (“skin or membrane that covers parts of the body”), from membrum (“a limb or member of the body”) +‎ -āna. Doublet of membrana.

membrane (countable and uncountable, plural membranes)

  1. (anatomy, zootomy) A flexible enclosing or separating tissue forming a plane or film and separating two environments.
    Hyponyms: aperture membrane, basement membrane, Bruch's membrane, cyclitic membrane, Descemet's membrane, hyaloid membrane, Jacob's membrane, mucous membrane, nictating membrane, nictitating membrane, Reissner's membrane, ruptured membrane, Schneiderian membrane, serous membrane, synovial membrane, tectorial membrane, tympanic membrane, virginal membrane, Zinn's membrane
    1. A mechanical, thin, flat flexible part that can deform or vibrate when excited by an external force.
      Hyponym: single-ply membrane
    2. A flexible or semiflexible covering or waterproofing whose primary function is to exclude water.
      • 1964 October 2, “SYNTHETIC FILM CAN ACT AS GILL; Silicone Rubber Membrane Is Announced by G. E.”, in The New York Times‎[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 23 November 2025:
        The animal was breathing oxygen that permeated from the water through panels of membrane while carbon dioxide and other unwanted gases moved in the opposite direction—from the animal's enclosed atmosphere into the water.
      • 2016 January 14, Jessica Hall, “Nanoengineers build 'microcannons' that fire light-up bullets filled with drugs”, in ExtremeTech‎[2]:
        Then they backed the membrane with a gel matrix containing a perfluorocarbon (PFC) propellant and fluorescent "nanobullets" about a micron wide, and hit it with ultrasound.
    3. (biology) A microscopic double layer of lipids and proteins forming the boundary of cells or organelles.
      Hyponyms: cell membrane, haptogenic membrane, ion-selective membrane, nuclear membrane, plasma membrane
  2. A piece of parchment forming part of a roll.

enclosing or separating tissue

mechanical part

flexible covering

Borrowed from Latin membrāna.

membrane f (plural membranes)

  1. membrane

membrane f pl

  1. plural of membrana

membrane

  1. plural of membrană

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