histicadj.
/ˈhɪstɪk/, U.S. /ˈhɪstɪk/ 1. Of or relating to animal or plant tissues. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1887 New Sydenham Soc. Lexicon Histic, relating to the tissues.
1889 Nature 21 Nov. 72/1 The nervous elements termed myelocytes, are not to be referred to a special histic type, but to the nerve cell.
1937 Bot. Gaz. 98 850 Samples of tumors..were collected at frequent intervals and placed in Navashin's solution preliminary to histic studies.
1964 Progress Cardiovascular Dis. 7 199 During its period of dissemination it [sc. Trypanosoma cruzi] is an hematic parasite, but essentially it is a histic parasite.
2001 Internat. Tinnitus Jrnl. 7 30 The disturbances of DOKN [= diagonal optokinetic nystagmus]..may be caused by the hypocapnia that is induced by antiorthostatic posture and that produces histic hypoxia.
2. Soil Science. Of a soil or soil horizon: containing a high proportion of organic matter, esp. incompletely decomposed organic matter such as peat.
ΚΠ
1960 Soil Classif. (U.S. Dept. Agric.) v. 34/2 The histic (Gk. histos, tissue) epipedon normally occurs at the surface, though it may be buried at a shallow depth.
1977 Jrnl. Torrey Bot. Club 104 353/1 Histic Humaquepts, classified as mineral soils, have between 20 and 40 cm of organics underlain by mineral soil materials.
1988 Ecology 69 695/1 Separate samples of Eriophorum roots were collected from the four major soil horizons (fibric, histic, sapric, and mineral).
2008 W. Chesworth Encycl. Soil Sci. 312/2 The World Reference Base for Soils..considers Histosols as soils having a histic or folic superficial horizon.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1887