The Skin 2014 WebMD, llc. All rights reserved. Prev

Contents

• 
  1Etymology
  
• 
  2Structure in humans and other mammals
  
  • 
    2.1Epidermis
    
  • 
    2.2Basement membrane
    
  • 
    2.3Dermis
    
    • 
      2.3.1Papillary region
      
    • 
      2.3.2Reticular region
      
  • 
    2.4Subcutaneous tissue
    
  • 
    2.5Detailed cross section
    
• 
  3Structure in fish, amphibians, birds, and reptiles
  
  • 
    3.1Fish
    
  • 
    3.2Amphibians
    
    • 
      3.2.1Overview
      
    • 
      3.2.2Granular glands
      
    • 
      3.2.3Mucous glands
      
  • 
    3.3Birds and reptiles
    
• 
  4Development
  
• 
  5Functions
  
  • 
    5.1Mechanics
    
  • 
    5.2Aging
    
• 
  6See also
  
• 
  7References
  
• 
  8External links
  

Etymology[edit]

The word skin originally only referred to dressed and tanned animal hide and the usual word for human skin was hide. Skin is a borrowing from Old Norse skinn "animal hide, fur", ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root *sek-, meaning "to cut" (probably a reference to the fact that in those times animal hide was commonly cut off to be used as garment).^[11]

Structure in humans and other mammals[edit]

Further information: Human skin

Dermis

The distribution of the blood vessels in the skin of the sole of the foot. (Corium – TA alternate term for dermis – is labeled at upper right.)

A diagrammatic sectional view of the skin (click on image to magnify). (Dermis labeled at center right.)