What does eschar mean?
An eschar is a hard, dry, usually dark crust made of dead tissue that forms over a burn, a cauterized wound, or another area of significant skin damage. Unlike an ordinary scab, which is a natural part of healing, an eschar consists of necrotic — that is, dead — tissue and can actually impede recovery if left in place, so clinicians often remove it through a procedure called debridement or, when it constricts circulation around a severe burn, through a surgical incision known as an escharotomy. The word also appears in infectious-disease medicine: a small eschar at the bite site is a hallmark sign of illnesses such as scrub typhus. Derived from the Greek eskhara, meaning hearth or brazier, the term evokes the image of charred ground. It is formal, specialist vocabulary, encountered mainly in hospitals, medical literature, and forensic reports.
nounA dry, dark scab or crust of dead tissue that forms over a wound or burn, typically associated with cauterization or a healing burn. In medicine, an eschar marks the site of necrotic tissue and often requires debridement before the underlying wound can heal properly.
- Medicine: a dry, dark scab or slough of dead tissue forming over a burn, cauterized area, or other wound.
- Pathology: a characteristic necrotic lesion at the site of infection by certain organisms, such as in rickettsial disease (e.g., scrub typhus).
"The surgeon noted that the eschar on the patient's calf would need to be removed before skin grafting could begin."
"The burn unit nurse carefully monitored the thick eschar covering the patient's forearm for signs of infection."
"In cases of scrub typhus, physicians look for a distinctive eschar at the site where the infected mite bit the host."
Standard English plural; used freely in medical writing when referring to multiple lesions or sites of necrosis.
"The examination revealed several small eschars consistent with repeated cauterization."
That hard black crust doctors call an 'eschar' comes straight from the ancient Greek word for a hearth — because it looked like scorched earth on your skin.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of eschar
Eschar comes from the Greek eskhara, meaning hearth, brazier, or burnt offering surface, via Latin eschara and then late Middle French or directly into English, where it was adopted in medical writing in the early 17th century. The image behind the word is vivid: a patch of dead, charred-looking tissue resembling scorched ground. It shares this root with the related adjective escharotic, describing a substance that produces such dead tissue.
Related word forms
How eschar is actually used
Eschar is a technical term used almost exclusively in medical, nursing, and pathology contexts; it sounds clinical rather than everyday. It carries no strong emotional connotation but implies serious tissue damage — ordinary household scrapes form scabs, not eschars. Plural is eschars.
Easily confused with eschar
A scab is a natural crust of dried blood and fibrin over an ordinary wound, whereas an eschar is specifically dead (necrotic) tissue, often from a burn or cauterization, and is not part of normal healing.
Slough is softer, moist, stringy dead tissue that may be yellowish, while eschar is dry, hard, and usually black or brown.