The thick layer of living tissue beneath your skin (also called the dermis) that contains blood vessels, nerves, and collagen fibers.
From Latin 'corium' meaning 'hide' or 'skin', directly borrowed by English anatomists to describe the true skin layer beneath the epidermis. The Latin term itself may relate to 'corare' (to prepare hides).
Your corium is actually tougher than it feels—it's where your fingerprints form unique patterns during fetal development, and it's why burns hurt so much when they reach this layer, because it's packed with pain-sensing nerves.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.