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dermatologic terms
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Actinic | Pertaining to ultra violet light |
| Amelanotic | without pigment |
| circinate | circular |
| circumscribed | limited to a certain area by sharply define border |
| coalesce | to merge one with another |
| comedo | plug in a skin duct containing keratin (open, blackhead; close, whitehead) |
| cytotoxic | toxic to cells |
| dermatome | area of skin supplied by a single dorsal nerve root |
| dermatophyte | fungus that enters the skin's surface, causing infection |
| desquamation | scaling, peeling of epidermis |
| discoid | coin-like |
| eczematous | general term for disease process characterized by scaling, weeping, crusting, and inflammation |
| erythema | redness |
| exacerbation | worsening of disease state |
| exfoliative | shedding of skin in fairly large quantities |
| folliculitis | hair follicle inflammation |
| guttate | small, water drop-sized lesions, usually widespread |
| hives | spontaneously occuring wheals |
| hyperkeratosis | thickening of stratum corneum, usually from repeated pressure or friction |
| hyperpigmentation | increased or excessive skin pigmentation (melanin), causing an area of skin to be darker than surrounding areas |
| hypopigmentation | decreased pigmentation |
| indurated | hard (tissue) |
| intertrigo | irritation of body areas with opposing skinfolds that are subject to friction |
| lesion | detectable change from normal skin structure |
| maceration | tissue softening or disintegration from excessive moisture |
| milia | small, white papules |
| perioral | around the mouth |
| periungual | under the nail plate |
| pigmentation | degree of skin or mucous membrane color |
| plantar | pertaining to sole of the foot |
| polymorphic | existing in many forms |
| pruritis | ithcing |
| punctate | pinpoint or dot-shaped |
| sclerosis | hardening or induration of skin |
| sebum | lipid excretion produced by sebaceous glands |
| tautness | degree of skin tightness |
| texture | tactile or visual skin characteristics (coarseness, dryness) |
| ultraviolet ligh | electromagnetic radiation from the sun (wavelengths 4-400nm) |
| urticaria | wheals (hives) |
| verruca | lesion characterized by surface roughness (wart) |
| wheal | lesion found in hives |