epithelium
any plant or animal tissue that covers a surface or lines a cavity, and that also performs any of various secretory, transporting, or regulatory functions.
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Origin of epithelium
1Other words from epithelium
- ep·i·the·li·al, adjective
Words Nearby epithelium
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use epithelium in a sentence
That attack can inflame the olfactory epithelium, the layers of cells that line parts of the nasal cavity.
COVID-19 gave new urgency to the science of restoring smell | Laura Sanders | August 29, 2022 | Science NewsOne possible way is that the virus could damage the cells in the olfactory epithelium, which is a patch of skin containing smell receptors that convert stimuli into signals for the brain.
Some people still can’t smell or taste a year after COVID | Maggie Galloway | January 18, 2022 | Popular-ScienceThey always imply desquamation of epithelium, which rarely occurs except in parenchymatous inflammations (Figs. 60 and 61).
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddThe finely granular variety is the least significant, and is found when the epithelium is only moderately affected.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell ToddGranular and fatty casts, therefore, always indicate partial or complete disintegration of the renal epithelium.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis | James Campbell Todd
The surface epithelial cells of a stratified epithelium are also of this type (fig. 4).
It occurs as the covering epithelium of the alveoli of the lung, of the kidney glomerules and capsule, &c.
British Dictionary definitions for epithelium
/ (ˌɛpɪˈθiːlɪəm) /
an animal tissue consisting of one or more layers of closely packed cells covering the external and internal surfaces of the body. The cells vary in structure according to their function, which may be protective, secretory, or absorptive
Origin of epithelium
1Derived forms of epithelium
- epithelial, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for epithelium
[ ĕp′ə-thē′lē-əm ]
The thin, membranous tissue that lines most of the internal and external surfaces of an animal's body. Epithelium is composed of one or more layers of densely packed cells. In vertebrates, it lines the outer layer of the skin (epidermis), the surface of most body cavities, and the lumen of fluid-filled organs, such as the gut or intestine.
Other words from epithelium
- epithelial adjective
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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