incision

incision (ɪnˈsɪʒən)

—n
1.	the act of incising
2.	a cut, gash, or notch
3.	a cut made with a knife during a surgical operation
4.	any indentation in an incised leaf
5.	rare incisiveness

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

incision

late 14c., from O.Fr. incision (13c.), from L. incisionem (nom. incisio) "a cutting into," noun of action from incidere "to cut in," from from in- "into" + -cidere, comb. form of caedere "to cut" (see concise).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

incision in·ci·sion (ĭn-sĭzh'ən)
n.

A cut into a body tissue or organ, especially one made during surgery.
The scar resulting from such a cut.

Example sentences from the web

Once the procedure is complete, sutures or staples are used to close the incision.

Incision a cut into a body tissue or organ, such as by a scalpel, made during surgery.

In order to restore the complete group a full incision must be made.

Typical surgery begins with a zigzag incision from ear to ear across the top of the head.

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Matching Quote

"I think a surgeon is particularly suited by temperament to the short story form as opposed to the novel, because the short story is rather like a surgical operation. It has a beginning, middle, and an end—at least my stories all do: you make an incision, you rummage around inside for a little while, then you stitch it up. Writing a short story is like taking out an inflamed appendix.... The act of making an incision is the creation of a wound for the purpose of healing the patient. The earliest forms of writing were exactly that: taking up a sharp rock and gouging out hieroglyphics in a flat stone—making wounds, as it were, to tell a story. The difference, of course, is that the surgical wound must heal, eventually, but the writer's wound does not."

-Richard Selzer