scarification

English

Etymology

From Old French scarificacion, from Late Latin scarificatio.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˌskɛɹɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/ (prescriptively not */ˌskaɹɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, despite a predictable inclination toward that by obvious analogy with scar)

Noun

scarification (countable and uncountable, plural scarifications)

1. The act of scarifying: raking the ground harshly to remove weeds, etc.
2. A medieval form of penance in which the skin was damaged with a knife or hot iron.
3. The scratching, etching, burning / branding, or superficially cutting designs, pictures, or words into the skin as a permanent body modification.
4. (medicine) A route of administration for some vaccinations and tests: rather than hypodermic injection, the site is inoculated intradermally not with any injection but rather only with small, shallow pricks or scratches; the needle is not hollow.

Synonyms

• scarifying (gerund sense)

Hypernyms

• intradermal administration (which includes intradermal injection and scarifying forms)

Translations

raking

medieval penance

body modification

• Polish: skaryfikacja (pl) f

Anagrams

• sacrification

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

scarification f (plural scarifications)

1. scarification

Further reading

• “scarification”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.