Etymograph

English

tegmen

Tegmen comes from Latin tegimen ‘cover, covering, protection’, from tegō ‘clothe’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- ‘to cover’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teg-1‘to cover’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tegō1‘to cover’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtegō1‘clothe’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtegimen2as tegmen‘cover, covering, protection’
  5. Englishtodaytegmen2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin tegimen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English tegmen

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teg-Wiktionary, Latin tegimen‘to cover’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tegōWiktionary, Latin tegimen‘to cover’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtegōWiktionary, Latin tegimen‘clothe’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtegimenWiktionary, English tegmenas tegmen‘cover, covering, protection’
  5. EnglishtodaytegmenWiktionary, English tegmen

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- ‘to cover’

tile, thug, sauna, thatch, staccato, toque, 26 more

through Latin tegō ‘clothe’

detective, detection, detect, toga, 9 more

Today it means

noun A covering or integument, usually referring to a thin layer or membrane in an organism.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tegmen”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin tegimen. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg- / tegmen

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