epithelial

[ ep-uh-thee-lee-uhl ]

adjective

1. Biology. being or relating to an epithelium, any tissue that lines a cavity or covers a surface in an animal or plant:

   Cheek epithelial cells are often studied in school labs as they are easily obtained through a mouth rinse or swab.

Other Words From

• in·ter·ep·i·the·li·al adjective
• non·ep·i·the·li·al adjective
• sub·ep·i·the·li·al adjective
• un·ep·i·the·li·al adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of epithelial¹

First recorded in 1935–40; epitheli(um) ( def ) + -al ¹( def )

Example Sentences

These neurons have microscopic finger-like protrusions called cilia, which float in the mucus covering the surface of the nasal epithelium.

From Nautilus

The area at the back of the nose, the olfactory epithelium, that has the cells that translate this odor molecule into experience of smelling something, you know, that area has hundreds of millions of cells in the dog, 300 million.

From Freakonomics

(a) Epithelial casts contain epithelial cells from the renal tubules.

From Project Gutenberg

Any epithelial cell may be so granular from degenerative changes that the nucleus is obscured.

From Project Gutenberg

The meshes also contain leukocytes, epithelial cells, and granular dbris.

From Project Gutenberg

It begins to form early in the embryo life as an epithelial ingrowth from the throat, and extends from the neck into the chest.

From Project Gutenberg

We find the outer wall made up of a thin layer of cells, the epithelial layer.

From Project Gutenberg