a. and sb. [ad. mod.L. adipōs-us fatty; f. adeps, adip-em fat.]
A. adj. Of or pertaining to adeps, or animal fat; fatty. Adipose tissue: the vesicular structure in the animal body, which contains the fat.
1743. trans. Heister’s Surg., 324. Encysted Tumours in the adipose Parts of the Neck.
1794. Paley, Nat. Theol., xi. The cellular or adipose membrane which lies immediately under the skin.
c. 1854. Carpenter, Man. Phys., I. iii. (1856), 165. Adipose tissue is composed of isolated cells … which have the power of appropriating fatty matter from the blood.
1881. Mivart, Cat, 18. Fat, or adipose tissue, consists of round or oval vesicles containing an oily matter.
B. sb. [sc. substance.] The animal fat; the oil or fat that fills the vesicles of the adipose tissue; which in life is semifluid, but at death becomes solid, and is known as suet or tallow.
1865. A. L. Adams, in Intell. Observ., No. 42, 435. The external adipose on the loins.
