scarification
Americannoun
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The act or result of making scratches or superficial incisions in the skin to produce an immune response or administer certain injections.
Scarification is a common method of sensitizing the skin for contact with an allergen.
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an act or instance of scratching, cutting, or burning a design or image into the skin, in order to create permanent decorative or symbolic scars; scarifying.
Because it’s riskier than tattooing and piercing, not all body mod shops offer scarification.
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a design or image made by scars as the result of scratching, cutting, or burning it into the skin.
A king was required to have the traditional facial scarification particular to his clan.
Etymology
Origin of scarification
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English scarificacioun, from Old French scarificacion and Late Latin scarīficātiōn- (stem of scarīficātiō ); see scarify, -ation
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.
Densely dotted patterns, reminiscent of Australian Aboriginal art, refer to scarification, the traditional African practice of cutting permanent adornments into human skin.
From Washington Post • Dec. 2, 2022
The tin’s raised pattern, weathered and abraded, yields the look of ancient African body scarification practiced as ritual ornamentation — here given an urban, Western edge.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 27, 2021
They were dressed in Ethiopian uniforms, she said, but spoke with an Eritrean accent and had traditional facial scarification typical of the neighbouring country.
From Reuters • Apr. 15, 2021
He tells me the scarification symbolises the purging of their mothers' blood and the gaining of their own adult blood - in a somewhat excruciating metaphorical severing of the apron strings.
From BBC • Aug. 25, 2018
Face and chest are sometimes covered with vermilion or saffron paint, but the natives do not employ any form of tattoo or scarification.
From In the Andamans and Nicobars The Narrative of a Cruise in the Schooner "Terrapin" by Kloss, C. Boden
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.
