scar

B2 Topic:The Human Body

US /skɑɹ/ UK /skɑː(ɹ)/ See IPA manual

Freq #4769

Meanings

1

noun
A permanent mark left on the skin after a wound has healed.

He still has a scar on his knee from the accident.
2

noun
A lasting emotional effect caused by a painful experience.

The war left deep scars on everyone who survived it.
3

verb
To leave a permanent mark on the skin.

The burn scarred her arm for life.
4

verb
To affect someone deeply and painfully for a long time.

Seeing the crash scarred him for life.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a permanent mark left on... mark

3 verb · to leave a permanent mark... mark

More cicatricecicatrix

Word family

Forms scarredscarringscars

Derived forms battle-scarredlabelscarnonscarringpreston-under-scarscarfacescarlessscarlikescarproofscarrerscarringlyscarry

Related forms birthmark

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

scar tissue
connective tissue that replaces damaged tissue as an injury heals

Noun + noun

Etymology

From Middle English scar, scarre, a conflation of Old French escare (“scab”) (from Late Latin eschara, from Ancient Greek ἐσχάρα (eskhára, “scab left from a burn”), and thus a doublet of eschar) and Middle English skar (“incision, cut, fissure”) (from Old Norse skarð (“notch, chink, gap”), from Proto-Germanic *skardaz (“gap, cut, fragment”)). Akin to Old Norse skor (“notch, score”), Old English sċeard (“gap, cut, notch”). More at shard. Displaced native Old English dolg, dolgswæþ, and wundswaþu (“scar”). Not related to scarify.

scar Middle English escare Old French eschara la-lat ἐσχάρα Ancient Greek skar Middle English skarð Old Norse *skardaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

The Human Body

External links

# scar

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun, verb
**IPA (US):** /skɑɹ/
**IPA (UK):** /skɑː(ɹ)/
**Frequency rank:** 4769

## Meanings
1. A permanent mark left on the skin after a wound has healed.
2. A lasting emotional effect caused by a painful experience.
3. To leave a permanent mark on the skin.
4. To affect someone deeply and painfully for a long time.

## Examples
- He still has a scar on his knee from the accident.
- The war left deep scars on everyone who survived it.
- The burn scarred her arm for life.
- Seeing the crash scarred him for life.

## Synonyms
- cicatrice
- cicatrix

## Derived Forms
- battle-scarred
- labelscar
- nonscarring
- preston-under-scar
- scarface
- scarless
- scarlike
- scarproof
- scarrer
- scarringly
- scarry

## Related Forms
- birthmark

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: scar
- Root: escare
- Root: eschara
- Root: ἐσχάρα
- Root: skar
- Root: skarð
- Root: *skardaz

## Etymology
From Middle English scar, scarre, a conflation of Old French escare (“scab”) (from Late Latin eschara, from Ancient Greek ἐσχάρα (eskhára, “scab left from a burn”), and thus a doublet of eschar) and Middle English skar (“incision, cut, fissure”) (from Old Norse skarð (“notch, chink, gap”), from Proto-Germanic *skardaz (“gap, cut, fragment”)). Akin to Old Norse skor (“notch, score”), Old English sċeard (“gap, cut, notch”). More at shard. Displaced native Old English dolg, dolgswæþ, and wundswaþu (“scar”). Not related to scarify.

## AI Etymology
Scar comes from Middle English scar, scarre, a conflation of Old French escare (“scab”) (from Late Latin eschara, from Ancient Greek ἐσχάρα (eskhára, “scab left from a burn”), and thus a doublet of eschar) and Middle English skar (“incision, cut, fissure”) (from Old Norse skarð (“notch, chink, gap”), from Proto-Germanic *skardaz (“gap, cut, fragment”)). Akin to Old Norse skor (“notch, score”), Old English sċeard (“gap, cut, notch”). More at shard. Displaced native Old English dolg, dolgswæþ, and wundswaþu (“scar”). Not related to scarify. Modern senses include a permanent mark left on the skin after a wound has healed. and a lasting emotional effect caused by a painful experience.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as battle-scarred, labelscar, nonscarring, preston-under-scar, scarface, and scarless and related forms such as birthmark.

## Topics
- The Human Body

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