pellicle

American  

[pel-i-kuhl] / ˈpɛl ɪ kəl /

noun

1. a thin skin or membrane; film; scum.

2. SCOBY.

3. Photography. a thin, partially reflective coating, as on a beam splitter or pellicle mirror.

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pellicle British  

/ ˈpɛlɪkəl, pɛˈlɪkjʊlə /

noun

1. a thin skin or film

2. the hard protective outer layer of certain protozoans, such as those of the genus Paramecium

3. botany

   1. the thin outer layer of a mushroom cap

   2. a growth on the surface of a liquid culture

4. photog the thin layer of emulsion covering a plate, film, or paper

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Other Word Forms

• pellicular adjective
• pelliculate adjective

Etymology

Origin of pellicle

First recorded in 1535–45; from Latin pellicul(a), equivalent to pelli(s) “skin” + -cula noun suffix ( -cle ¹ )

Example Sentences

Lovers of home-brewed kombucha may actually be familiar with the raw nanocellulose material — it forms as a floating off-white structure called a pellicle.

From Salon

Before smoking, refrigerate the cheese uncovered the night before so it develops a "pellicle" — that sticky surface to which the smoke will adhere.

From Los Angeles Times

"We are acquainted with a mere pellicle of the globe on which we live," writes Thoreau, "We know not where we are."

From The Guardian

Young resembling parents, but penultimate instar passive and enclosed in a filmy pellicle.

From Project Gutenberg

Soon, however, the macerated roof-wall yields, leaving a reddish floor where the mucous membrane is exposed, denuded of its epithelial layer or covered with a new tender and hyper�mic pellicle.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• fur
• leather
• skin
• wool