tissue

US /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/ UK /ˈtɪs.juː/ See IPA manual

Freq #4558

Meanings

1

noun
A piece of soft, thin paper used for wiping your nose or face.

She pulled a tissue from the box to wipe her eyes.
2

noun
The group of similar cells that form a part of an animal or plant.

The injury damaged the soft tissue around his knee.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms tissues

Derived forms antitissuebiotissueintertissueintratissuemacrotissuemicrotissuemultitissueneotissuenontissuesubtissuetissuelesstissuelike

Appears in

Phrases (3)

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Simplified etymology

Tissue entered English from Old French and ultimately derives from Latin texere, “to weave,” also the source of text. It first denoted a rich woven fabric, often threaded with gold or silver; the idea of interwoven material led to figurative uses such as a tissue of lies, and the biological sense appeared in the mid-19th century. Tissue for a disposable paper handkerchief developed from tissue paper.

Etymology

From Middle English tissu, from Old French tissu (“woven”), past participle of tistre (“to weave”), from Latin texō (“to weave”).

tissu Middle English texō Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

The Human Body Biology & Genetics

External links

# tissue

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈtɪʃ.(j)u/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈtɪs.juː/
**Frequency rank:** 4558

## Meanings
1. A piece of soft, thin paper used for wiping your nose or face.
2. The group of similar cells that form a part of an animal or plant.

## Examples
- She pulled a tissue from the box to wipe her eyes.
- The injury damaged the soft tissue around his knee.

## Derived Forms
- antitissue
- biotissue
- intertissue
- intratissue
- macrotissue
- microtissue
- multitissue
- neotissue
- nontissue
- subtissue
- tissueless
- tissuelike

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: tissu
- Root: texō

## Etymology
From Middle English tissu, from Old French tissu (“woven”), past participle of tistre (“to weave”), from Latin texō (“to weave”).

## AI Etymology
Tissue is from Middle English tissu, from Old French tissu (“woven”), past participle of tistre (“to weave”), from Latin texō (“to weave”). The historical line also includes Middle English tissu, Old French tissu, Latin texō. In present-day use, it can mean a piece of soft, thin paper used for wiping your nose or face, or the group of similar cells that form a part of an animal or plant. Derived formations include antitissue, biotissue, intertissue, intratissue, macrotissue, microtissue, multitissue, neotissue.

## Topics
- The Human Body
- Biology & Genetics

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