Deep cuts or tears in skin or other tissue, usually jagged or irregular.
From Latin 'lacerare' (to tear or rend), related to 'lacinia' (a flap or edge); the word originally meant violently torn rather than cleanly cut.
Laceration comes from the same Latin root as 'lacery'—and medieval art was full of intricate lace because lace-makers intentionally created torn, jagged patterns that echoed these violent-sounding origins.
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