Word of the day: cicatrix

The word of the day is cicatrix:

1. Physiology. new tissue that forms over a wound and later contracts into a scar.
2. Botany. a scar left by a fallen leaf, seed, etc.

(1641, from L. cicatrix "a scar," of unknown origin.)

"The water is so hot that it makes the cicatriced stump prickle and smart, but it must be that hot if it is to ease the aches away enough to permit sleep."

 - Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose