• (epidermal tissue) The cells and connective tissue from the epithelial portion of the skin (cutis). It consists of the following layers: stratum corneum (horny layer), stratum granulosum (granular layer), stratum spinosum (prickle cell layer), and stratum basale (basal cell layer).
  CDISC Terminology
  Clinical Data Interchange Standards Consortium (CDISC), 2021
• The epithelial portion of the skin (cutis). It consists of the following layers: stratum corneum (horny layer), stratum granulosum (granular layer), stratum spinosum (prickle cell layer), and stratum basale (basal cell layer).
  NCI
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• The external, nonvascular layer of the skin. It is made up, from within outward, of five layers of EPITHELIUM: (1) basal layer (stratum basale epidermidis); (2) spinous layer (stratum spinosum epidermidis); (3) granular layer (stratum granulosum epidermidis); (4) clear layer (stratum lucidum epidermidis); and (5) horny layer (stratum corneum epidermidis).
  NLM Medical Subject Headings
  U.S. National Library of Medicine, 2025
• The most superficial layer of the skin consisting of keratinized squamous epithelium stratified into five layers: the stratum basale (basal layer); the stratum spinosum (prickle cell or spinous layer); the stratum granulosum (granular layer); the stratum lucidum (clear layer); and the stratum corneum (horny layer).
  Foundational Model of Anatomy
  University of Washington, 2017
• The outer layer of the two main layers of the skin.
  NCI Dictionary of Cancer Terms
  U.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
• The outermost layer of skin.
  Harvard Dictionary of Health Terms
  Harvard Medical Publishing, 2011
• Epidermis, in zoology, protective outermost portion of the skin. There are two layers of epidermis, the living basal layer, which is next to the dermis, and the external stratum corneum, or horny layer, which is composed of dead, keratin-filled cells that have migrated outward from the basal layer....
  Encyclopedia Britannica
  Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 2025