cicatrix

/ˌsɪkəˈtrɪks/

Other forms: cicatrices; cicatrixes

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 of cicatrix

1. noun

   a mark left (usually on the skin) by the healing of injured tissue
   synonyms: cicatrice, scar

   types:

   callus

   bony tissue formed during the healing of a fractured bone

   cheloid, keloid

   raised pinkish scar tissue at the site of an injury; results from excessive tissue repair

   pockmark

   a scar or pit on the skin that is left by a pustule of smallpox or acne or other eruptive disease

   sword-cut

   a scar from a cut made by a sword

   vaccination

   the scar left following inoculation with a vaccine

   chestnut

   a small horny callus on the inner surface of a horse's leg

   type of:

   symptom

   (medicine) any sensation or change in bodily function that is experienced by a patient and is associated with a particular disease