serous, a.
(ˈsɪərəs)
[ad. F. séreux (16th c.), ad. L. serōsus, f. ser-um serum.]
1. Of or pertaining to serum; consisting of or containing serum; of the nature of serum.
| 1594 T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. ii. Ep. Rdr. A 8 b, The sucking veines serue to purge the blood from the serous substaunce of it. 1618 W. Barclay Well at King-horne A vj b, For the croudy part bindeth some, and the serous or wheyish part louseth others. 1638 Burton Anat. Mel. i. i. iii. iii, Ichores and those serious [ed. 1651 serous] matters. 1683–4 Boyle Mem. Nat. Hist. Hum. Blood 13 The Differences between the Serous and the Red part of Humane Blood. 1735 Somerville Chace i. 345 The serous Particles evade Thro' th' open Pores. 1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 501 Ass's, mare's, and woman's milk, are the most saline and serous. 1876 tr. Wagner's Gen. Pathol. 334 Serous infiltration occurs in cells. |
b. Path. Involving or characterized by an effusion of serum.
| 1779 Johnson Let. to Mrs. Thrale 5 Oct., Mr. Thrale's disorder whether grumous or serous. 1879 P. Smith Glaucoma 19 Serous Iritis. 1893 W. R. Gowers Man. Dis. Nerv. Syst. (ed. 2) II. 407 The so-called ‘serous apoplexy’. 1895 Brit. Med. Jrnl. 14 Dec. 1492/1 Serous cysts. |
2. Anat. Secreting or moistened with serum, as a membrane.
| 1732 Arbuthnot Rules of Diet iv. in Aliments, etc. (1735) 395 This Disease [dropsy] may happen wherever there are serous Vessels. 1813 J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 143 The external surface of the stomach is covered by a membrane, the peritoneum, denominated serous. 1869 Eng. Mech. 3 Dec. 271/2 The back layer of the cornea and the front of the iris are what anatomists call serous membranes. 1873 Mivart Elem. Anat. 462 The proper serous sac of the thorax. |