A mark or discolored patch on a person's skin that has been present since birth or developed early in life.
Combination of 'birth' (Old English 'byrth') and 'mark' (Old English 'mearc'). The compound emerged in the 16th century to describe permanent skin blemishes appearing at birth, once believed to be caused by maternal impressions or desires during pregnancy.
Medieval people invented wild explanations for birthmarks—if a pregnant woman craved strawberries, her baby would have a strawberry-shaped mark! Today we know they're caused by concentrated blood vessels or pigmentation, but the superstitions show how much humans try to find meaning in our bodies' natural variations.
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