word-forming element meaning "skin," from Greek derma "skin, hide, leather," from PIE root *der- "to split, flay, peel," with derivatives referring to skin and leather.
Entries linking to -derm
*der-
Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to split, flay, peel," with derivatives referring to skin and leather.
It forms all or part of: derm; -derm; derma; dermal; dermato-; dermatology; echinoderm; epidermis; hypodermic; pachyderm; scleroderma; taxidermy; tart (adj.) "having a sharp taste;" tear (v.1) "pull apart;" tetter; turd.
It is the hypothetical source of/evidence for its existence is provided by: Sanskrit drnati "cleaves, bursts;" Greek derein "to flay;" Armenian terem "I flay;" Old Church Slavonic dera "to burst asunder;" Breton darn "piece;" Old English teran "to tear, lacerate."
ectoderm n.
"outer layer of cells or outer membrane of a metazoan animal," 1853, from ecto- + -derm. Coined by Prussian embryologist Robert Remak (1815-1865). Related: Ectodermal.