velamen

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin vēlāmen.

Noun

velamen (plural velamina)

1. (anatomy) A covering membrane or velum
2. (botany) A spongy, usually pale, multiseriate epidermis (i.e. consisting of multiple layers of cells) covering the roots of some kinds of plants, especially plant species with an epiphytic or semi-epiphytic habit. Examples include various orchid and Clivia species

Latin

Etymology

From vēlō (“I cover, wrap”) +‎ -men (noun-forming suffix).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /u̯eːˈlaː.men/, [u̯eːˈɫ̪äːmɛn]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /veˈla.men/, [veˈläːmen]

Noun

vēlāmen n (genitive vēlāminis); third declension

1. cover, covering
2. clothing, robe, garment
3. veil

Declension

Third-declension noun (neuter, imparisyllabic non-i-stem).

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	vēlāmen	vēlāmina
Genitive	vēlāminis	vēlāminum
Dative	vēlāminī	vēlāminibus
Accusative	vēlāmen	vēlāmina
Ablative	vēlāmine	vēlāminibus
Vocative	vēlāmen	vēlāmina

References

• “velamen”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “velamen”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• velamen in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• velamen in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “velamen”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers

Spanish

Noun

velamen m (plural velámenes)

1. (nautical) set of sails of a boat

Further reading

• “velamen”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014