Mucilaginous
/ˌmjuːsɪˈlædʒɪnəs/noun
Having the nature of mucus; slimy, sticky, or gummy.
Did you know?Mucilaginous comes from Latin mucus, meaning “slime” or “mucus,” and the suffix -aginous helped form adjectives, giving the word a very literal bodily, gooey origin.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*meug-
“to be slimy, slippery, or wet”
Latin
Latin
mucus
“slime, mucus”
Late Latin
Latin
mucilago
“mucilage; sticky slimy matter”
Middle French
French
mucilagineux
“mucilaginous, slimy”
16th–17th Century
English
mucilaginous
“slimy, gummy, full of mucilage”
Modern English
English
mucilaginous
“having the quality of mucus or mucilage; sticky and slimy”