What does tela mean?
Tela is a chiefly technical noun for a thin membrane or membrane-like sheet. In anatomical usage, it refers especially to delicate tissue layers associated with the coverings of the brain and spinal cord, and compounds such as tela choroidea name particular vascular folds. The word has also been used for the retina and related structures within the eye. These specialized senses are unusual outside scientific writing; although the Latin ancestor meant “cloth” or “web,” tela is not normally used as a general word for fabric. Tela also occurs as the plural of telum, an ancient word for a missile such as a spear or arrow. Its unusual appearance and restricted register make it useful when anatomical precision matters, but ordinary speakers will usually choose membrane, tissue, layer, or film. The standard plural of the membrane sense is telae, whereas the plural of telum remains tela.
nounA thin membrane or membrane-like tissue, especially one of the tissues forming the coverings of the brain and spinal cord. The term has also been used for the retina and for related structures within the eye.
- A thin membrane or membrane-like tissue, especially one of the tissues forming the coverings of the brain and spinal cord.
- A membrane-like layer within the eye, particularly the vascular tissue associated with the choroid.
- The retina, or light-sensitive tissue at the back of the eye.
- The plural of telum, meaning a spear, arrow, or similar missile.
"Delicate telae surround the brain and spinal cord, forming part of the meningeal layers."
"Delicate telae surround the brain and spinal cord, forming part of the meningeal layers."
"In older zoological writing, the retina was described as the tela of the eye."
The standard plural of the membrane sense is telae. Tela separately functions as the plural of telum, a spear, arrow, or similar missile.
"Several fine telae form part of the protective coverings around the brain and spinal cord."
Tela began as “cloth”—and ended up naming the body’s finest sheets.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does tela come from?
The English anatomical word tela comes through New Latin from Latin tela, “cloth, web,” whose weaving imagery was extended to thin membrane-like sheets. Latin textilis, “woven,” and textus, “woven thing,” the source of text and texture, belong to the same Indo-European weaving root. The plural tela associated with telum reflects Latin telum, “missile, dart”; telum was borrowed separately into English, and its plural is tela.
Related word forms
How tela is actually used
Tela is uncommon in general prose and is chiefly encountered in anatomical, zoological, and other technical writing. Its plural in the sense of the plural of telum follows that separate English borrowing.