Etymograph

English

tegument

Tegument comes from Latin tegumentum ‘a cover’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)teg-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teg-1‘to cover with a roof’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tegō1‘to cover’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtegō2‘to cover, clothe’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtegumentum2‘a cover’
  5. Englishtodaytegument2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin tego
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English tegument

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)teg-Wiktionary, Latin tego‘to cover with a roof’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*tegōWiktionary, Latin tego‘to cover’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtegōWiktionary, English tegument‘to cover, clothe’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtegumentumWiktionary, English tegument‘a cover’
  5. EnglishtodaytegumentWiktionary, English tegument

The story

Also in late Middle English, borrowed from Latin tegumentum (‘a cover’), from tegere (“to cover, clothe”, verb) + -mentum (suffix forming nouns).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

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

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

through Latin tegō ‘to cover, clothe’

detective, detection, detect, toga, 9 more

Today it means

noun Something which covers; a covering or coating.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tegument”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin tego. 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- / tegument

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