cicatrize

C3I1C3A1T1R1I1Z10E1
/ˈsɪkətɹaɪz/

verb

To form a scar.

Similar
cicatrise
OriginEnglish cicatrix ← Latin cicatrix →
Scrabble 22
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

verbcicatrize (third-person singular simple present cicatrizes, present participle cicatrizing, simple past and past participle cicatrized)

present singular third person cicatrizes · participle present cicatrizing · participle past cicatrized · past cicatrized · alternative UK cicatrise

  1. intransitiveTo form a scar.

    His back and muscular shoulders were all ridged by the cicatrized weals of warriorhood.

    1931, Ion L. Idriess, Lasseter's Last Ride, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 126
    1 more example

    As for myself, I was settling down to my work with the enthusiasm which I used to have for it, so that I might fairly have said that the wound which poor Lucy left on me was becoming cicatrized.

    1897, Bram Stoker, Dracula, Westminster [London]: Archibald Constable and Company, […], →OCLC
  2. transitiveTo treat or heal (a wound) by causing a scar or cicatrix to form.

    The stump was dipped in boiling oil to cicatrise the wound.

    1923, Edward Powys Mathers, The Book of the Thousand Nights and One Night

Synonyms & antonyms

verbform a scar, after an injury

Similar
cicatrise
Broader
scarmarkpock
Also see
cicatrisecicatrizate

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Latincicatrix
  2. Englishcicatrix
  3. Englishcicatrize

From cicatrix + -ize.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian зараствам
  • зараствам (zarastvam)to form a scar
Catalan cicatritzar
  • cicatritzarto form a scar
German vernarben
  • vernarbento form a scar
Polish zabliźniać się, zabliźnić się
  • zabliźniać sięto form a scar
  • zabliźnić sięto form a scar
  • zabliźniaćto treat or heal a wound by causing a scar or cicatrix to form
  • zabliźnićto treat or heal a wound by causing a scar or cicatrix to form
Russian рубцеваться
  • рубцеваться (rubcevatʹsja)to form a scar
Spanish cicatrizar, cicatrizarse
  • cicatrizarto form a scar
  • cicatrizarseto form a scar
  • cicatrizarto treat or heal a wound by causing a scar or cicatrix to form

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

arcticize
Cite this entry
APA

cicatrize. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cicatrize

MLA

“cicatrize.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cicatrize. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cicatrize,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cicatrize.

Source: cicatrize on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.