1. Anatomy. An area of skin innervated by sensory fibers from a single spinal nerve.
2. Medicine. An instrument used in cutting thin slices of the skin, as for skin grafts.
3. Embryology. The part of a mesodermal somite from which the dermis develops.

[DERMA- + -TOME.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.