What does "parenchyma" mean?
The functional tissue of an organ as distinguished from the connective and supporting tissue.
Parenchyma
/pəˈɹɛŋ.kɪm.ə/ noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: The functional tissue of an organ as distinguished from the connective and supporting tissue.
- Grammar: parenchyma is listed as noun.
- Useful contrasts: stroma, vascular bundle, ventricle.
- Usage evidence: Previously blood and air had been thought to mingle freely in the fleshy parenchyma of the lungs, but the microscope now revealed the membranous alveoli at the ends of the tracheo-bronchial ramifications.
How to use "parenchyma"
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Meaning check
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Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "parenchyma" in a final draft.
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Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 The functional tissue of an organ as distinguished from the connective and supporting tissue. countable, uncountable
"Previously blood and air had been thought to mingle freely in the fleshy parenchyma of the lungs, but the microscope now revealed the membranous alveoli at the ends of the tracheo-bronchial ramifications."
- 2 animal tissue that constitutes the essential part of an organ as contrasted with e.g. connective tissue and blood vessels wordnet
- 3 The cellular tissue, typically soft and succulent, found chiefly in the softer parts of leaves, pulp of fruits, bark and pith of stems, etc. countable, uncountable
- 4 the primary tissue of higher plants composed of thin-walled cells that remain capable of cell division even when mature; constitutes the greater part of leaves, roots, the pulp of fruits, and the pith of stems wordnet
- 5 Cellular tissue lying between the body wall and the organs of invertebrate animals lacking a coelom, such as flatworms. countable, uncountable
"[I]n a Sponge, the Parenchyma, it seems, is but a kind of mucous gelly, which is very easily and cleerly wash'd away."
Example
"Previously blood and air had been thought to mingle freely in the fleshy parenchyma of the lungs, but the microscope now revealed the membranous alveoli at the ends of the tracheo-bronchial ramifications."
Common questions
How do you use "parenchyma" in a sentence?
Previously blood and air had been thought to mingle freely in the fleshy parenchyma of the lungs, but the microscope now revealed the membranous alveoli at the ends of the tracheo-bronchial ramifications.
How do you pronounce "parenchyma"?
Pronounced /pəˈɹɛŋ.kɪm.ə/.
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.