You searched for: “peritoneum
peritoneum
1. The transparent serous (thin) membrane lining the abdominal cavity and reflected inward at various places to cover the visceral organs (organs inside the body).
2. The large membrane in the abdominal cavity that connects and supports internal organs.

It is composed of many folds which pass between or around the various organs.

Two folds are of primary importance: the omentum (double-layered fold of peritoneum that attaches the stomach to other organs in the abdominal cavity), which hangs in front of the stomach and intestine; and the mesentery (double layer of peritoneum that attaches to the back wall of the abdominal cavity and supports the small intestines), which attaches the small intestine and much of the large intestine to the posterior (back) abdominal cavity.

Word Entries containing the term: “peritoneum
visceral peritoneum (s) (noun); peritonea, peritoneums (pl)
The inner layer of a multilayered membrane that protects and holds the organs of the abdominal cavity in place: The visceral peritoneum forms a complete covering that is wrapped around the internal organs including the lower part of the esophagus, the stomach, small intestine, colon, rectum, liver, gallbladder, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, and bladder.
This entry is located in the following unit: viscer-, viscero-, visceri-, visc- (page 1)