Having marks left behind by a healed injury or wound; emotionally wounded by a difficult experience.
From Greek 'eskhara' meaning 'scab' or 'burn mark,' through Old French 'escare.' The word entered English in the 1400s for physical marks and evolved to include psychological wounds by the 1800s.
Scars are actually stronger than original skin—the collagen in scar tissue is organized in one direction while normal skin is organized in a mesh pattern, making scars more resistant to tearing. Your body's repair job is better engineered than the original.
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