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dermal

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Etymology and origin of the English word dermal

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1803 J. Barclay, New Anatomical Nomenclature More words from the 19th century
Ultimate origin
Ancient Greek δέρμα

Pronunciation

  • UK: [ˈdɜːməɫ][1]

Etymology

It is formed from English derm + -al,[2][3][4] from derm or derma, the skin,[2][5] which go back to Ancient Greek δέρμα (dérma, “skin, hide, leather”),[3][6][2] from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to split, flay, peel”).[3] The OED stresses that it is not formed on a Greek model, the Greek adjective being δερματικός (dermatikós),[2] the source of dermatic;[3] Klein calls it a hybrid of a Greek word with a suffix of Latin origin.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to the skin: 1803, in J. Barclay's New Anatomical Nomenclature,[2][3] the year Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives too.[4] Dictionary.com dates it 1795–1805.[5]

Semantic evolution

In anatomy the word was used of the skin or outer covering in general, and only rarely in the narrower sense of the derma, or true skin, as against the epidermis;[2] Merriam-Webster and the Shorter Oxford now give the dermis as its usual reference.[4][7] Botanists used it from 1875 for the epidermis of plants.[2][7]

Timeline

  • 1803 – relating to the skin; cutaneous.[2][3][4]
  • 1875 – in botany, of the epidermis.[2]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Of or relating to the skin, especially the dermis; cutaneous: a dermal patch that releases the drug slowly.[4][8][9][7]
  2. (botany) Of the epidermis; epidermal.[2][7][9]

Word family

  • transdermal
  • electrodermal
  • hypodermal
  • intradermal
  • subdermal
  • derm
  • derma
  • dermis
  • epidermis
  • dermatic

Usage notes

Dictionary.com gives dermic as an alternative form.[5]

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  9. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
Cite this entry

“Dermal.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/en/dermal. Accessed 13 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·