cicatrix
Americannoun
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Physiology. new tissue that forms over a wound and later contracts into a scar.
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Botany. a scar left by a fallen leaf, seed, etc.
noun
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the tissue that forms in a wound during healing; scar
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a scar on a plant indicating the former point of attachment of a part, esp a leaf
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of cicatrix
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin: scar
Explanation
A cicatrix is the scar that's left behind on skin after a wound has healed. That raised mark on your hand where you burned yourself on a hot pan a few years ago? That's a cicatrix. You're much more likely to use the word scar, but cicatrix or cicatrice is common medical terminology, so the nurse who bandages your skinned knee is definitely familiar with this term. In Latin, cicatrix means "scar," and it's been used in medicine since the 17th century. Botanists use it too, for scars on tree bark: "You can see the cicatrix where they pruned that big branch, near the top."
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
