patagium

/pəˈteɪd͡ʒi.əm/

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin patagīum (“gilded edging of a woman's tunic”), from an unattested Ancient Greek παταγεῖον (patageîon), perhaps from πάταγος (pátagos, “clatter”).

Why this word is great

PATAGIUM — [Noun] The thin membrane extending between the limbs and body of a bat, gliding mammal, or between the body and wing of a bird, or a scale on the pronotum of certain insects. From Latin patagīum ("gilded edging of a woman's tunic"), likely from an unattested Ancient Greek παταγεῖον (patageîon), possibly related to πάταγος (pátagos, "clatter"). Unlike "wing" (which names the whole apparatus of flight) or "tegula" (a rigid insect sclerite), patagium is the unsung fabric of airborne grace: the stretched parchment of a bat’s nocturnal glide, the taut silk of a sugar glider mid-leap, or the iridescent sheen of a dragonfly’s pronotum catching the sun—a reminder that the thinnest membranes often bear the weight of the sky.

noun

  1. The thin membrane that extends between the limbs and body of a bat or of gliding mammals.
  2. A similar membrane between the body and wing of a bird.
  3. One of the scales affixed to the pronotum of lepidopterous insects; the tegula.