A mark left on the skin or other tissue after a wound, burn, or sore has healed. Can also refer to lasting emotional or psychological damage.
From Old French escare, from Late Latin eschara, from Greek eskhara meaning 'fireplace' or 'scab formed after burning'. The word evolved from describing burn marks to any permanent mark left by injury.
Scars are nature's storytellers - they're actually stronger than the original tissue, made of different collagen fibers arranged in parallel rather than the basket-weave pattern of normal skin. Interestingly, fetal wounds heal without scarring, suggesting that scarring might be an evolutionary trade-off for faster healing in dangerous environments.
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