Glossary
dermis
The dermis is the layer under the epidermis: connective tissue carrying the blood vessels, nerves, glands and hair follicles the skin needs.
The dermis is the layer beneath the epidermis, and it is connective tissue rather than epithelium. It holds what the epidermis cannot: blood vessels that feed both layers, nerve endings for touch, pressure, temperature and pain, sweat glands, oil glands and the follicles that hair grows from. Collagen and elastin fibers give it strength and the ability to stretch back; the loss of that recoil with age is part of what a wrinkle is. Because the dermis carries the vessels, it is where bleeding starts, and because it carries the nerve endings, it is where sensation is reported from. A tattoo, an injection placed in the skin, and a suture that holds a wound closed all involve this layer. Its boundary with the epidermis is a folded line, which keeps the two from sliding apart.
Taught in
Related terms
- epidermis — The epidermis is the outer, avascular layer of the skin — stratified epithelium that renews from its base and makes keratin and melanin.
- hypodermis — The hypodermis is the fatty layer under the dermis — subcutaneous tissue that insulates, cushions, stores energy and anchors the skin.
- tissue — A tissue is a group of similar cells with a shared job and the material between them — the level between a cell and an organ.
- epithelial tissue — Epithelial tissue covers and lines surfaces, forms glands, and sits on a basement membrane — it has no blood vessels of its own.
Source: The anatomy and physiology guide in this course, whose organ and tissue descriptions follow the US National Cancer Institute's SEER Training Modules and MedlinePlus consumer health pages. Both are US federal government material, not subject to copyright in the United States. The definition above is written for this course in our own words. (SEER Training Modules accessed 2026-10-26; definition written 2026-10-27)