- plural of meninx.
meninges
Americanplural noun
plural noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of meninges
1610–20; < New Latin < Greek mḗninges, plural of mêninx membrane
Explanation
The protective membranes that surround your brain and spinal cord are called meninges. Your meninges do an important job — helping to keep your nervous system safe from harm. The illness known as meningitis is an inflammation of the meninges that's caused by a viral or bacterial infection. This condition can be serious because of how close the brain is to the meninges and how vital they are for protecting it. The Greek root, meninx, means "membrane."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To retain the Meninges, and to support the Mass of the Brain, which is cover'd by them.
From The Compleat Surgeon or, the whole Art of Surgery explain'd in a most familiar Method. by Le Clerc, Charles Gabriel
The Nerves are round white Bodies enclos'd in a double Membrane, communicated to them from the two Meninges of the Brain: Their Office is to convey the Animal Spirits into all the Parts.
From The Compleat Surgeon or, the whole Art of Surgery explain'd in a most familiar Method. by Le Clerc, Charles Gabriel
And the Sutures, because the Meninges of the Brain proceed from thence to form the Pericranium.
From The Compleat Surgeon or, the whole Art of Surgery explain'd in a most familiar Method. by Le Clerc, Charles Gabriel
Meninges, the name of three membranes that invest the brain and spinal cord, and the inflammation of which is called meningitis.
From The Nuttall Encyclopædia Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge by Nuttall, P. Austin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
