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Definition

noun, plural: epithelial tissues

A type of animal tissue made up of densely packed cells that rest on a basement membrane to act as a covering or lining of various bodily surfaces and cavities

Supplement

The epithelial tissue is one of the fundamental types of animal tissues (others include muscle tissue, nervous tissue, and connective tissue. It is primarily involved in protecting the underlying structures, secretion, regulation, and absorption. This tissue may be classified histologically according to the cell shape (i.e. squamous, columnar, and cuboidal) and the number of layers that make it up (i.e. simple, stratified, and pseudostratified).

Synonym(s):

• epithelium

Compare:

• muscle tissue
• connective tissue
• nervous tissue

See also:

• endothelium]]

Related term(s):

• Simple epithelium]]
• Stratified epithelium]]
• Barretts epithelium
• Squamous epithelium]
• Epithelial

Mentioned in:

• tissue