Nevus

Nevus (plural: nevi) is a nonspecific medical term for a visible, circumscribed, chronic lesion of the skin or mucosa. The term originates from nævus, which is Latin for "birthmark"; however, a nevus can be either congenital (present at birth) or acquired. Common terms, including mole, birthmark, and beauty mark, are used to describe nevi, but these terms do not distinguish specific types of nevi from one another. Quotes Now, until the break of day,Through this house each fairy stray.To the best bride-bed will we,Which by us shall blessèd be;And the issue there createEver shall be fortunate.So shall all the couples threeEver true in loving be;And the blots of Nature’s handShall not in their issue stand:Never mole, hare-lip, nor scar,Nor mark prodigious, such as areDespisèd in nativity,Shall upon their children be. Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream, 5:2 Some vicious mole of nature Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1:4 That lovely spot which thou dost seeIn Celias bosome was a Bee,Who built her amorous spicy nestI’th Hyblas of her either breast,But from close Ivery Hyves, she flewTo suck the Arromattick dewWhich from the neighbour vale distils,Which parts those two twin-sister hils.There feasting on Ambrosiall meat,A rowling file of Balmy sweat,(As in soft murmurs, before death,Swan-like she sung,) chokt up her breath,So she in water did expire,More precious than the Phœnix fire;  Yet still her shaddow there remainesConfind to those Elizian plaines;With this strict Law, that who shall layHis bold lips on that milky way,The sweet, and smart, from thence shall bringOf the Bees Honey, and her sting. Thomas Carew, "Vpon a Mole in Celias bosome" Variants: 1. That (42): The (MS.); 5. close (42, H35): those (W); 8. hils.] hils (42, some copies) Rhodes Dunlap, ed., The Poems of Thomas Carew (Oxford, 1949), pp. 113–14 I saw Elysium and the milky way  Fair-opening to the shades beneath her breast;In Venus’ lap the struggling wanton lay,  And, while she strove to hide, reveal’d the rest.A mole, embrown’d with no unseemly grace,Grew near, embellishing the sacred place. Samuel Croxall, "On Florinda, Seen while she was bathing" (1765) External links Category:Anatomy