tissue

Etymology

From Middle English tissu, from Old French tissu (“woven”), past participle of tistre (“to weave”), from Latin texere (“to weave”).

noun

1. Thin, woven, gauze-like fabric.
2. A fine transparent silk material, used for veils, etc.; specifically, cloth interwoven with gold or silver threads, or embossed with figures.
3. A sheet of absorbent paper, especially one that is made to be used as tissue paper, toilet paper or a handkerchief.
4. Absorbent paper as material.
5. (biology) A group of cells (along with their extracellular matrix if any) that are similar in origin and function together to do a specific job.
   What they lack is outermost brain tissue that, at least in humans, prompts awareness and interpretation. 2014, Robert K. Bolger, Scott Korb, Gesturing Toward Reality: David Foster Wallace and Philosophy
6. Web; texture; complicated fabrication; connected series.
   a tissue of forgeries, or of lies
   unwilling to leave the dry bones of Agnosticism wholly unclothed with any living tissue of religious emotion 1888, A. J. Balfour, The Religion of Humanity
7. (horse racing, slang) The scratch sheet or racing form.
   Pricing the first show is a matter of the bookmaker's individual judgment, relying upon advice from all quarters, particularly the tissue; but very soon in the betting exchanges it becomes clear that the sole criterion for the fixing of a horse's price is demand. 2016, Gerald Hammond, The Language of Horse Racing

verb

1. To form tissue of; to interweave.