scarification

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Densely dotted patterns, reminiscent of Australian Aboriginal art, refer to scarification, the traditional African practice of cutting permanent adornments into human skin.

From Washington Post • Dec. 2, 2022

The tin’s raised pattern, weathered and abraded, yields the look of ancient African body scarification practiced as ritual ornamentation — here given an urban, Western edge.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 27, 2021

They were dressed in Ethiopian uniforms, she said, but spoke with an Eritrean accent and had traditional facial scarification typical of the neighbouring country.

From Reuters • Apr. 15, 2021

He tells me the scarification symbolises the purging of their mothers' blood and the gaining of their own adult blood - in a somewhat excruciating metaphorical severing of the apron strings.

From BBC • Aug. 25, 2018

Such artificial leeches are often difficult to distinguish from cupping devices, because both sorts of instruments employed some form of scarification and suction.

From Bloodletting Instruments in the National Museum of History and Technology by Appel, Toby