Rhagades

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Cracks or fissures in the skin, typically occurring around the mouth or on the hands and feet
2. Lines of sore, dry skin that may result from conditions like eczema or cheilitis
3. A medical term referring to the clefts or grooves in the skin that can be painful or unsightly

Etymology: "Rhagades" is the plural of "rhagade," a medical term for a linear crack or fissure in the skin, most often on the lips, heels, or around the mouth. The singular comes from Ancient Greek "rhagás," which meant "crack" or "fissure," and the word's sense has stayed close to that original physical image: something split open along a line. Because the plural is the form most often met in writing, readers usually encounter "rhagades" when a clinician describes several cracks at once. The noun is an inflected form, so the core history belongs to the singular, which English took directly from the Greek root and kept in its clinical register.