cicatrix
Americannoun
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cicatrices
plural
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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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
She remembers the painful transitions to spring, the sea grapes and the rains, her skin a cicatrix.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
You have probed each cicatrix to the bottom, and filled the minute holes with ink.
From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 369, July 1846 by Various
The attacks recurred for more than a month, long after the original wound had healed soundly; and, for a long time after this, pressure on the cicatrix would reproduce the attacks.
From Neuralgia and the Diseases that Resemble it by Francis E. Anstie
The excision and cauterization of the cicatrix, or the cutting of the nerves proceeding from it, has been useful in delaying, or even absolutely preventing, the paroxysms.
From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various
Such healing is prepared for and carried out very thoroughly in the case of falling leaves and cast branches, the plane of separation being covered by a cicatrix of cork.
From Disease in Plants by H. Marshall Ward
But despite all her visible cicatrices, her internal scars are worse.
From Newsweek ● Oct. 22, 2012
Luetic cicatrices contract strongly, and are very resistant to treatment, so that esophagoscopic bouginage should be begun as early as possible after the healing of a luetic ulceration, in order to prevent stenosis.
From Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy A Manual of Peroral Endoscopy and Laryngeal Surgery by Chevalier Jackson
The cicatrices, or scars, that are often found upon the liver indicate that this organ may suffer small rupture and yet the horse may recover from it.
From Special Report on Diseases of the Horse by Charles B. Michener
Cicatricial types of postdiphtheritic stenosis may be seen as webs, annular cicatrices of funnel shape, or masses of fibrous tissue causing fixation of the arytenoids as well as encroachment on the glottic lumen.
From Bronchoscopy and Esophagoscopy A Manual of Peroral Endoscopy and Laryngeal Surgery by Chevalier Jackson
Posterior half of nasal septum, right side, showing cicatrices.
From Special Report on Diseases of the Horse by Charles B. Michener
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