[mes.en.tery] n, pl -ter.ies [ME mesenterie, fr. MF & ML; MF mesentere, fr. ML mesenterion, fr. Gk, fr. mes- + enteron intestine--more at inter-] (15c) 1 a: one or more vertebrate membranes that consist of a double fold of the peritoneum and invest the intestines and their appendages and connect them with the dorsal wall of the abdominal cavity b: a fold of membrane comparable to a mesentery and supporting a viscus (as the heart) that is not a part of the digestive tract
2: a support or partition in an invertebrate like the vertebrate mesentery -- mes.en.ter.ic adj