subcutisn.
/ˌsʌbˈkjuːtɪs/, U.S. /ˌsəbˈkjudəs/ Anatomy and Zoology.
The layer of loose connective tissue beneath the skin, typically containing some or many fat cells as well as blood vessels and nerves; = hypodermis n. 2.
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the world > animals > animal body > general parts > covering or skin > [noun] > layer beneath outer integument
subcuticlea1785
hypoderma1826
hypoderm1855
hypodermis1874
subcutis1877
1877 Vet. Jrnl. 5 115 It is further absolutely necessary that a loose and movable subcutis should not be present.
1879 tr. E. Haeckel Evol. Man II. 200 The leather-skin is much thicker than the outer-skin. In its deeper part, the subcutis, lie many masses of fat-cells.
1937 Science 31 Dec. 618/1 There is moderate involvement of skeletal muscle. Perimysium and endomysium, particularly adjoining the subcutis, are heavily infiltrated by lepra cells.
1965 F. Gerrard Macgregor's Struct. Meat Animals (ed. 2) iii. 68 On good feeding, extra fat continues to accumulate in the sub-cutis throughout the first four or five years of life; hence the farmers say ‘a pig never stops growing’.
2001 Austral. Gourmet Traveller Aug. 45 (advt.) If you tilted an imaginary microscope below the epidermis you'd see skin really goes a lot deeper, to what's called the dermis; then deeper still, to the subcutis.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2012; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1877