[2] In English, "integument" is a fairly modern word, its origin having been traced back to the early seventeenth century; and refers to a material or layer with which anything is enclosed, clothed, or covered in the sense of "clad" or "coated", as with a skin or husk.
When the context indicates nothing to the contrary, the word commonly refers to an envelope covering the nucellus of the ovule.
The integument of an organ in zoology typically would comprise membranes of connective tissue such as those around a kidney or liver.
In arthropods, the integument, or external "skin", consists of a single layer of epithelial ectoderm from which arises the cuticle,[3] an outer covering of chitin, the rigidity of which varies as per its chemical composition.
Derivative terms include various adjectival forms such as integumentary (e.g. system), integumental (e.g. integumental glands, "peltate glands, the integument being raised like a bladder due to abundant secretion"[4]) and integumented (as opposed to bare).