Cicatrix
[SIH-kə-triks]
Part of speech: noun
Origin: Latin, 17th century
1.
The scar of a healed wound.
Examples of Cicatrix in a sentence
"Though the wound in Roger’s leg healed quickly, it left a distinct cicatrix."
"A teenage bicycle accident left me with a cicatrix on my forehead that’s only visible when I’ve got a tan."
About Cicatrix
The word is drawn directly from the Latin “cicatrix,” meaning “a scar” or “a bruise,” and refers to the scar created by new tissue that the body generates to heal a wound.
Did you Know?
A cicatrix, or scar, has a job in healing. In the early stages of recovering from injury, the body first generates a fresh layer of tissue to protect the wound, before gradually developing a cicatrix that will be strong enough to protect the healing wound from a variety of stimulation, such as pressure, stretching, or scratching. The tissue that develops into a cicatrix is slightly different from healthy skin, in part because it needs to be elastic to be protective. For this reason, a cicatrix is often a different color or texture than the skin around it.
