membranous

American  

[mem-bruh-nuhs] / ˈmɛm brə nəs /

Also membranaceous

adjective

1. consisting of, of the nature of, or resembling membrane.

2. characterized by the formation of a membrane.

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membranous British  

/ mɛmˈbreɪnəs, ˌmɛmbrəˈneɪʃəs, mɛmˈbreɪnɪəs, ˈmɛmbrənəs /

adjective

1. of or relating to a membrane

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membranous Scientific  

/ mĕm′brə-nəs /

1. Relating to, made of, or similar to a membrane.

2. Characterized by the formation of a membrane or a layer like a membrane.

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Other Word Forms

• intermembranous adjective
• membranously adverb
• semimembranous adjective
• submembranaceous adjective
• submembranous adjective

Etymology

Origin of membranous

1590–1600; membrane + -ous; compare French membraneux

Example Sentences

ZIP7 is also the only zinc transporter found in the endoplasmic reticulum, a membranous structure where a cell makes proteins destined for the outer membrane of the cell or for secretion out of the cell.

From Science Daily • Apr. 30, 2024

It then must move to another membranous network in the cell called the endoplasmic reticulum.

From Science Daily • Nov. 9, 2023

The tiny baby octopuses—each about the size of a nickel—emerged from soft, membranous eggs, clutched in their mothers’ protective embrace.

From Scientific American • Jul. 3, 2023

“Every membranous violet smear on the gritty toilet paper was proof to me that I existed. … All day I flitted from bodily need to bodily need.”

From New York Times • Sep. 7, 2018

He was not large of his kind, maybe the length of a forty-oared ship, and was wormthin for all the reach of his black membranous wings.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin