Etymograph

English

tissue

Tissue comes from Old French tissu ‘woven’, from tistre ‘to weave’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *teksō.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*teksō1reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtexō2‘to weave’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tistre2‘to weave’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tissu2‘woven’past participle of tistre
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tissu2‘tissue (silk fabric)’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1627tissue2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin texo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English tissue
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, New Atlantis. A Worke Vnfinished.: “The Chariot was couered with Cloth of Gold tiſſued…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*teksōWiktionary, Latin texoreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtexōWiktionary, English tissue‘to weave’
  3. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tistreWiktionary, English tissue‘to weave’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400tissuWiktionary, English tissue‘woven’past participle of tistre
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500tissuWiktionary, English tissue‘tissue (silk fabric)’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1627tissueWiktionary, English tissue. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1627, New Atlantis. A Worke Vnfinished.: “The Chariot was couered with Cloth of Gold tiſſued…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *teksō

texture, textile, pretext, 3 more

through Latin texō ‘to weave’

text, 5 more

Today it means

noun Thin, woven, gauzelike fabric.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “tissue”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin texo. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Italic *teksō / tissue

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