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Origin and history of tissue

tissue(n.)

late 14c., tissheu, tisseu, tissue, tisshewe, etc., "band or belt of rich woven textile fabric," from Old French tissu "a ribbon, headband, belt of woven material" (c. 1200), noun use of tissu "woven, interlaced," past participle of tistre "to weave," from Latin texere "to weave, to make" (from PIE root *teks- "to weave," also "to fabricate").

Originally material woven with silk, gold, and silver thread; later of light, gauzy fabric for veils, etc., hence a generic word for fine woven fabric (by 1730). The biological sense "cellular structure out of which living structures are built up" is attested by 1831, from French, introduced c. 1800 by French anatomist Marie-François-Xavier Bichal (1771-1802).

Tissue-paper is from 1777, supposedly so called because it was made to be placed between folds of fine silk fabric ("tissues") to protect them. Tissue as short for tissue paper is by 1880. The meaning "piece of absorbent paper used as a handkerchief" is from 1929.

also from late 14c.

Entries linking to tissue

*teks-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to weave," also "to fabricate," especially with an ax, also "to make wicker or wattle fabric for (mud-covered) house walls."

It might form all or part of: architect; context; dachshund; polytechnic; pretext; subtle; technical; techno-; technology; tectonic; tete; text; textile; tiller (n.1) "bar to turn the rudder of a boat;" tissue; toil (n.2) "net, snare."

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit taksati "he fashions, constructs," taksan "carpenter;" Avestan taša "ax, hatchet," thwaxš- "be busy;" Old Persian taxš- "be active;" Latin texere "to weave, fabricate," tela "web, net, warp of a fabric;" Greek tekton "carpenter," tekhnē "art;" Old Church Slavonic tesla "ax, hatchet;" Lithuanian tašau, tašyti "to carve;" Old Irish tal "cooper's ax;" Old High German dahs, German Dachs "badger," literally "builder;" Hittite taksh- "to join, unite, build."

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    weave
    Old English wefan "to weave, form by interlacing yarn," figuratively "devise, contrive, arrange" (class V strong verb; past tense wæf, past participle wefen), from Proto-Germanic *weban (source also of Old Norse vefa, Middle Low German, Middle Dutch, Dutch weven, Old High German
    styptic
    late 14c., stiptik, "astringent, causing bodily tissue to contract," in reference to medicines (also of tastes, "harsh");...As a noun, c. 1400, "medicine or ingredient which contracts bodily tissue or inhibits bleeding," from Late Latin stypticum...
    parenchyma
    "the proper tissue or substance of any organ or part," as distinguished from connective tissue, etc., 1650s, Modern Latin...
    phthisis
    "disease of the lungs characterized by progressive disintegration of pulmonary tissue" (usually synonymous with pulmonary...
    disruption
    "a rending asunder, a bursting apart, forcible separation into parts," early 15c., originally medical, "laceration of tissue...
    caustic
    c. 1400, "capable of burning or destroying organic tissue, corrosive," from Latin causticus "burning, caustic," from Greek...
    marrow
    "soft tissue found in the interior of bones," late 14c., from Old English mearg "marrow," earlier mærh, from Proto-Germanic...
    twill
    "cloth woven in parallel diagonal lines," early 14c., Scottish and northern English variant of Middle English twile, from Old English twili "woven with double thread, twilled," partial loan-translation of Latin bilix "with a double thread" (with Old English twi- substituted for c
    paper
    mid-14c., "material consisting of a compacted web or felting of vegetable fibers, commonly as a thin, flexible sheet for writing, printing, etc.," from Anglo-French paper, Old French papier "paper, document," and directly from Latin papyrus "paper, paper made of papyrus stalks,"
    band
    "a flat strip," also "something that binds," Middle English bende, from Old English bend "bond, fetter, shackle, chain, that by which someone or something is bound; ribbon, ornament, chaplet, crown," with later senses and spelling from cognate Old Norse band and technical senses

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