Updated: Published
It turns out that all these years I've been using the word "pannus," I've been using it incorrectly.
That sheet of abdominal adipose tissue that we all wrestle with from time to time is *not* a pannus; rather, it is a panniculus.
From the 21st edition of Taber's (p. 1696):
pannus (pa˘n nu˘s) [L., cloth] 1. Superficial vascular inflammation of the cornea. 2. Inflamed synovial granulation tissue seen in chronic rheumatoid arthritis.
panniculus (pa˘n-ı˘k u--lu˘s) [L., a small piece of cloth] Any clothlike sheet or layer of tissue.