Definition

Noun: A mark, typically on the skin, that remains after a wound or injury has healed; a scar. This term is often used in formal, medical, or literary contexts.

Examples

• The surgeon examined the old cicatrice on the patient's abdomen.
• The poem described the emotional cicatrice left by the war, not just the physical ones.
• A small, pale cicatrice was visible on the leaf where it had been damaged.

Advanced Usage

• "To bear the cicatrice of": To show lasting signs or effects of a past experience, often emotional or psychological.
  • The community still bears the cicatrice of that natural disaster.
• Used metaphorically to describe lasting damage or a reminder of a past event on a landscape, object, or institution.
  • The abandoned factory stood as a cicatrice on the city's industrial history.

Variants and Related Words

• Cicatrix (noun): The singular form from which "cicatrice" is derived. Both "cicatrix" and "cicatrice" mean scar.
• Cicatrices (noun): The standard plural form of both "cicatrix" and "cicatrice."
• Cicatricial (adjective): Relating to or resembling a scar.
  • The biopsy showed cicatricial tissue.
• Cicatrization (noun): The process of scar formation.

Synonyms

• Scar: The most common and direct synonym.
• Mark: A more general term for a visible impression.
• Blemish: A small mark or flaw, often on the skin.

Notes on Usage

"Cicatrice" is a less common, more formal, or technical term compared to "scar." It is frequently encountered in medical writing, botany (to describe marks on plants), and literary works. In everyday conversation, "scar" is almost always used instead.

Noun

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