squamous

[skwey-muh s]

adjective

covered with or formed of squamae or scales.
scalelike.

Also squamosal, squa·mose

[skwey-mohs, skwuh-mohs] /ˈskweɪ moʊs, skwəˈmoʊs/.

Origin of squamous

From the Latin word squāmōsus, dating back to 1535–45. See squama, -ous

Related formssqua·mous·ly, squa·mose·ly, adverbsqua·mous·ness, squa·mose·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for squamous

Contemporary Examples of squamous

And squamous cell carcinoma also develops under our fingernails.
‘Zoobiquity’: What Animals Can Teach Us About Our Health
Carl Zimmer
June 17, 2012

Historical Examples of squamous

Squamous epithelioma and melanotic cancer are the forms met with.
Manual of Surgery
Alexis Thomson and Alexander Miles
The roots are squamous, sending forth few fibres, and are perennial.
The Mosaic History of the Creation of the World
Thomas Wood
In Dendrolagus, moreover, the squamous epithelium does not extend into the cardiac cul-de-sac.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia
Frank Evers Beddard
The distribution of the squamous, white, oesophageal epithelium is very much like that of Dendrolagus.
The Cambridge Natural History, Vol X., Mammalia
Frank Evers Beddard
The parietal and the squamous portion of the temporal were wanting, although the organ of hearing was well conformed.
Curiosities of Medical Experience
J. G. (John Gideon) Millingen

British Dictionary definitions for squamous

squamous

squamose (ˈskweɪməʊs)

adjective biology

(of epithelium) consisting of one or more layers of flat platelike cells
covered with, formed of, or resembling scales

Derived Formssquamously or squamosely, adverbsquamousness or squamoseness, noun

Word Origin for squamous

C16: from Latin squāmōsus, from squāma a scale

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for squamous

adj.

1540s, from Latin squamosus "covered with scales, scaly," from squama "scale," perhaps related to squalus "foul, filthy" (see squalid). Middle English had squame (late 14c.) "a scale," from Old French esquame, from Latin squama.

squamous in Medicine

squamous

[skwā′məs, skwä′-]

adj.

Covered with or formed of scales; scaly.
Resembling a scale or scales; thin and flat.
Squamosal.