tissue
Meaning of tissue: Tissue is a group of similar cells and their surrounding material organized together to carry out a shared function within the body.
Definition of tissue
Tissue is a group of cells, along with the material surrounding them, that share a similar structure and work together to perform a particular function. Cells within a tissue are typically similar to one another and are organized in a consistent pattern specific to that tissue's role.
The body is generally described as containing four broad categories of tissue: epithelial tissue, which covers surfaces and lines cavities, connective tissue, which supports and binds other tissues together, muscle tissue, which contracts to produce movement, and nervous tissue, which transmits electrical signals. Organs are built from combinations of these tissue types working together.
Because tissue sits at a level of organization between individual cells and whole organs, examining a small tissue sample under a microscope, a process called histology, is a common way to evaluate whether a particular tissue is structurally normal or affected by disease.
Used in a sentence
A tissue sample was obtained by biopsy and sent for pathological examination.
Good to know
Tissue is defined by its function and organization rather than by a single cell type alone, so a biopsy sample is generally evaluated for its overall structural pattern rather than the appearance of individual cells in isolation.
Word origin
Where “tissue” comes from
Formed from Old French tissu, meaning woven, ultimately from Latin texere, meaning to weave, reflecting how cells and fibers interlace to form a tissue's structure.