parenchyma
/pəˈɹɛŋ.kɪm.ə/ noun
Forms parenchymas parenchymata
- noun (anatomy) The functional tissue of an organ as distinguished from the connective and supporting tissue.
- noun (botany) The cellular tissue, typically soft and succulent, found chiefly in the softer parts of leaves, pulp of fruits, bark and pith of stems, etc.
- noun (zoology) Cellular tissue lying between the body wall and the organs of invertebrate animals lacking a coelom, such as flatworms.
Antonyms
Etymology
From Ancient Greek παρέγχῠμα (parénkhŭma, “anything poured in beside”), from πᾰρᾰ- (pără-, “beside”) + ἔγχῠμα (énkhŭma, “instillation, content of a vessel”), given by the Greek anatomist Erasistratus to the peculiar substance of the lungs, liver, kidneys, and spleen, as if formed separately by the veins that run into them. By surface analysis, para- + -enchyma.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The soft celluar substance of the tissues of plants and animals, like the pulp of leaves, to soft tissue of glands, and the like.
Etymology [NL., from Gr. parenchyme.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “parenchyma”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details