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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A scar left by the formation of new connective tissue over a healing sore or wound.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A cicatrice or scar.
  2. n. In conchology, the impression or mark of the muscular or ligamentous attachment in a bivalve shell; the ciborium.
  3. n. In entomology, a small, roughened, or depressed space on a surface, resembling a scar.
  4. n. In botany, the mark of attachment of a seed or leaf.

Wiktionary

  1. n. A scar that remains after the development of new tissue over a recovering wound or sore.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. n. The pellicle which forms over a wound or breach of continuity and completes the process of healing in the latter, and which subsequently contracts and becomes white, forming the scar.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a mark left (usually on the skin) by the healing of injured tissue

Etymologies

  1. Middle English cicatrice, from Latin cicātrīx, cicātrīc-.

Examples

  • “In the deeper portions of the tracks the extreme density of the cicatrix is a factor of great prognostic importance, since if it implicates muscles, tendons, vessels, or nerves, impairment of movement, circulatory disturbance, or signs of neuritis or nerve pressure are often witnessed.”

    Surgical Experiences in South Africa, 1899-1900 Being Mainly a Clinical Study of the Nature and Effects of Injuries Produced by Bullets of Small Calibre

  • “When the effused lymph is not absorbed it organizes, either forming a sort of internal cicatrix which is harder than the surrounding tissues or increasing the density of the part by augmenting the amount of plastic material within it.”

    An Epitome of Practical Surgery, for Field and Hospital.

  • “Obviously, the weeping wound of Northern Ireland is an unpleasant yet unmistakable cicatrix on the face of Ireland's political culture, part of its "cordite-scented past," as Mr. Foster puts it.”

    The Wall Street Journal: Burning Bright

  • “The small granulating surface soon healed, and at present a linear cicatrix alone tells of the injury he has sustained, while his thumb has all its movements and his hand a fine grasp.”

    On the Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery

  • “During this time the rag, adhering by means of a crust of inspissated blood collected beneath it, has continued perfectly dry, and it will be left untouched till the usual period for removing the splints in a simple fracture, when we may fairly expect to find a sound cicatrix beneath it.”

    On the Antiseptic Principle of the Practice of Surgery

  • “Many tattoo their bodies by inserting some black substance beneath the skin, which leaves an elevated cicatrix about half an inch long: these are made in the form of stars, and other figures of no particular beauty.”

    Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa

  • “The man, after waiting a while, will go to the doctor and show a large cicatrix in each eye, the result of an ulcerated cornea.”

    Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah

  • “That angered her so she jerked her head at his face, saying, "Where'd you get that, then?" as if the cicatrix that formed a curve on his cheek was his just reward for abandoning his people.”

    A Traitor to Memory

  • “She had touched the lumpy cicatrix in disbelief, and then scrabbled back from the trunk in horror.”

    Ship Of Destiny

  • “The cicatrix on her head was a monstrous thing, shocking in both color and size.”

    Ship Of Destiny

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Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘cicatrix’.

Comments

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  • knitandpurl "This is your first impression as you travel (naturally by the objectionable conveyance) from Ryde to Ventnor; and the fact that the train rumbles along very smoothly and stops at half a dozen little stations, where the groups on the platform enable you to perceive that the population consists almost exclusively of gentlemen in costumes suggestive of unlimited leisure for attention to cravats and trousers (an immensely large class in England), of old ladies of the species denominated in France rentières, of young ladies of the highly educated and sketching variety, this circumstance fails to reconcile you to the chartered cicatrix which forms your course."
    "English Vignettes" in English Hours by Henry James, pp 142-143 of the Oxford paperback edition Sep 28, 2010

  • bard A puckered scar Jun 17, 2008

‘cicatrix’ has been looked up 1634 times, loved by 4 people, added to 36 lists, commented on 2 times, and has a Scrabble score of 19.