[ta.pe.tum] n, pl ta.pe.ta [NL, fr. L tapete carpet, tapestry, fr. Gk tapet-, tapes rug, carpet] (1713) 1: any of various membranous layers or areas esp. of the choroid coat and retina of the eye
2: a layer of nutritive cells that invests the sporogenous tissue in the sporangium of higher plants