Noun
1. (Science: pathology)
Connective tissue dominated by extracellular matrix containing collagen type II and large amounts of proteoglycan, particularly chondroitin sulphate. It is more flexible and compressible than bone and often serves as an early skeletal framework, becoming mineralised as the animal ages. Cartilage is produced by chondrocytes that come to lie in small lacunae surrounded by the matrix they have secreted. (biology-online.org)
2. A flexible connective tissue found in many areas in the bodies of humans and other animals, including the joints between bones, the rib cage, the ear, the nose, the bronchial tubes and the intervertebral discs. (Wikipedia.org)
3. A non-vascular form of connective tissue composed of chondrocytes embedded in a matrix that includes chondroitin sulfate and various types of fibrillar collagen. There are three major types:
Hyaline Cartilage
Fibrocartilage
Elastic Cartilage (online-medical-dictionary.org)
Word origin: From French cartilage, from Latin cartilāgo