squamous, a.
(ˈskweɪməs)
Also 6 scamous, squamus, 8 squammous.
[ad. L. squāmōsus, f. squāma squama. So It. squamoso, Sp. escamoso, OFr. scamoux, scammeux, F. squam(m)eux.]
1. Anat. a. squamous bone, squamous part, squamous portion, the thin and scaly part of the temporal bone, situated in the temple.
| 1541 R. Copland Guydon's Quest. Chirurg. D iv b, Y⊇ bones that are called Petrous... Also they be called Scamous.., for they be conioynte in maner of the scales of a fysshe with the sayde parietalles. |
| 1778 Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2) I. 345/2 One [part of the bone]..is called the squamous, or scaly part. 1808 Med. Jrnl. XIX. 395 The Squamous portion of the Temporal Bone. 1842 Penny Cycl. XXII. 79/1 The squamous bone or portion has a roundish form. 1876 Trans. Clinical Soc. IX. 16 The skull narrows, leaving..prominent ridges which mark the junction between the squamous and parietal bones. |
b. Of a suture: Formed by thin overlapping parts resembling scales.
| 1709 Phil. Trans. XXVII. 104 From thence it [the Os Maxilla] runs obliquely backward, and is articulated with the Os Palati by a broad squamous Suture. 1741 A. Monro Anat. (ed. 3) 73 The Squamous Agglutinations or False Sutures are one of each Side, a little above the Ear. 1836 Buckland Geol. & Min. II. 55 The overlapping, or squamous suture by which the Collar is fitted to..the calcareous Sheath of the Siphon. 1866 Huxley Prehist. Rem. Caithn. 151 The contained cerebral substance could only expand at the sides in the situation of the squamous sutures. |
c. (See
quot.)
| 1854 Owen in Orr's Circ. Sci., Org. Nat. I. 173 In the cod..most of the bones..have what, in anatomy, is called the ‘squamous’ character and mode of union, being flattened, thinned off at the edge, and overlapping one another. |
2. Containing scale-like particles.
rare—1.
| 1547 Boorde Brev. Health lxxiii. 23 b, In this matter take good hede that thou do marke a furfurous uryne from a squamus water, and a squamus water from a skaly water. |
3. Bot. Furnished or covered with, composed of, squamæ or scales.
| 1658 Sir T. Browne Gard. Cyrus iii, In the squamous heads of Scabious Knapweed,..and in the Scaly composure of the Oak-Rose. 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 73 Many squamous shining hollow heads hanging upon slender stalks. 1731 P. Miller Gard. Dict. s.v. Virga, The Calyx (or Flower-cup) is squamous. 1785 Martyn Lett. Bot. (1794) I. 24 [The root] of the lily is squamous, or composed of scales. 1861 Hulme tr. Moquin-Tandon ii. iii. v. 152 The Squamous Gall, which Reaumur called Artichoke Gall, is..found on the English Oak. 1870 Bentley Man. Bot. (ed. 2) 182 The bracts are described as squamous or scaly. |
4. = squamose a. 1.
| 1668 Wilkins Real Char. 142 Squamous River Fish. 1747 Gentl. Mag. XVII. 461 Others [sc. squares of skin] irregular and rough, and even squamous, like tubercles. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 218 Blue bellied, squamous lizards, several varieties. 1819 H. Busk Vestriad ii. 84 The brawny Tritons, with their weedy hair, Their squamous tails, and slimy shoulders bare. 1854 S. P. Woodward Mollusca ii. 281 The lower valves of some Spondyli are squamous or spiny,—the upper, plain. |
5. Of substances: Composed of scales.
| a 1728 Woodward Fossils i. 57 The squamous or foliaceous Talc and Mica. 1835–6 Todd's Cycl. Anat. I. 208/2 He considers each little band as being composed of two substances, one fleshy, which contracts upon drying, the other squamous. |
6. Path. Of skin-diseases: Characterized by the development of scales or laminæ of skin.
| 1829 Glasgow Med. Jrnl. II. 327 These eruptions may be exanthematic, vesicular..or squamous. 1843 R. J. Graves Syst. Clin. Med. xx. 247 note, A copious eruption often combining the lichenous and the squamous forms. 1875 B. Meadows Clin. Observ. 60 A squamous eruption, not confined to any particular part, but especially affecting the chest. 1876 Duhring Dis. Skin 164 Squamous eczema may be..merely an ephemeral stage of the disease. |
7. Of armour: Scaly, scaled; laminated.
| 1845 C. H. Smith in Kitto Cycl. Bibl. Lit. s.v. Arms, The term..‘scales’, in the case of Goliath's armour, denotes the squamous kind. 1858 Kitto Daily Bible Illustr. III. 225 The squamous arrangement of the pieces of metal. |
8. Med. Designating epithelium that contains (or consists of) a layer of very thin, flattened cells, and the cells themselves. Also
squamous-celled adj.| 1860 Tanner Pregnancy ii. 79 The epithelium of the mucous coat..is of the tessellated or squamous variety. 1872 Huxley Physiol. xii. 275 Squamous epithelium generally consists of many layers of cells, one over the other. 1891 Moullin Surg. 139 The fatty change is common..in squamous-celled epitheliomata. 1908 Practitioner Sept. 355 Wherever the disease occurs, seeing that it is commonly a squamous⁓celled epitheliomatous ulcer, it is reasonable to suppose that it starts as the result of some previous lesion causing a denudation of the epithelium at one of these spots. 1937 E. E. Hewer Text-bk. Histol. ii. 9 Three types can be distinguished:—(1) Simple squamous epithelium... (2) Simple columnar and cubical epithelium... (3) Stratified epithelium. 1947 Radiology XLIX. 281/1 A variety of other tumors, such as..squamous-cell carcinomas of the vagina and fore-stomach..were observed. 1968 Passmore & Robson Compan. Med. Stud. I. xvii. 2/1 There are two varieties of stratified squamous epithelium, comified (keratinized) and non-comified (non-keratinized). 1978 Jrnl. R. Soc. Med. LXXI. 726 Metaplasis into stratified squamous-cell epithelium is very common in the middle ear. |
Hence
ˈsquamously adv.;
ˈsquamousness.
| 1775 Ash, Squamousness, the state of being squamous. 1822 Parkinson Outl. Oryctol. 223 Pecten scabrellus: sub⁓orbicular,..squamously denticulated. |