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Parenchyma

Etymology:

Gr. parénkhuma: “anything poured in beside”, 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

Definition:

The functional tissue of an organ as distinguished from the connective and supporting tissue (almost as if the functional tissue was "poured into"—as a liquid form and later solidified—a supporting structure).

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