tomentum

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɛntəm

Noun

tomentum (plural tomenta)

1. (botany) A mass of filamentous hairs on the leaf of a plant.
2. (zoology) A covering of fine, soft hairs; a pubescence.
3. (anatomy) A network of fine blood vessels between the pia mater and the cerebral cortex.

Derived terms

• basal tomentum

 

Translations

matted woolly down on the surface of a plant

• Italian: tomento m
• Maori: mōnehu

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *towamentom, from Proto-Indo-European *tewh₂- (“to swell”) + -mentum.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /toːˈmen.tum/, [t̪oːˈmɛn̪t̪ʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /toˈmen.tum/, [t̪oˈmɛn̪t̪um]

Noun

tōmentum n (genitive tōmentī); second declension

1. stuffing (for pillows, mattresses etc)

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter).

	singular	plural
nominative	tōmentum	tōmenta
genitive	tōmentī	tōmentōrum
dative	tōmentō	tōmentīs
accusative	tōmentum	tōmenta
ablative	tōmentō	tōmentīs
vocative	tōmentum	tōmenta

Descendants

• Catalan: toment
• English: tomentum
• Galician: tomento
• Italian: tomento
• Portuguese: tomento
• Spanish: tomento

References

• “tomentum”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “tomentum”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• tomentum in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• de Vaan, Michiel, Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, vol. 7, of Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series, Alexander Lubotsky ed., Leiden: Brill, 2008.