dermis
Meaning of dermis: The dermis is the thicker, deeper layer of skin beneath the epidermis, containing blood vessels, nerves, glands, and hair follicles.
Definition of dermis
The dermis is the deeper of the two main layers of the skin, lying beneath the thinner outer layer called the epidermis. It is composed largely of connective tissue and contains blood vessels, nerves, sweat and oil glands, and hair follicles, structures not found in the epidermis above it.
The dermis itself is generally divided into two layers, an upper papillary layer that interlocks with the epidermis above and contains a fine network of blood vessels and nerve endings, and a thicker, deeper reticular layer made up of denser connective tissue that gives skin much of its strength and elasticity.
Because the dermis contains blood vessels and nerve endings that the epidermis lacks, an injury that reaches into the dermis is typically capable of bleeding and causing pain, distinguishing it from a more superficial injury confined to the epidermis alone.
Used in a sentence
The biopsy sample included both the epidermis and a portion of the underlying dermis.
Good to know
An injury that penetrates into the dermis can bleed and cause pain because this layer contains blood vessels and nerve endings absent from the epidermis above it, a distinction relevant to how the depth of a skin injury is assessed.
Word origin
Where “dermis” comes from
Formed from Greek derma, meaning skin.