A term used very differently in dermatological usage, which is defined clinically on the one hand, but also histologically. In general, lentigo is understood to be a congenital or acquired, variably sized (lentigo refers to a maxial lens-sized pigment spot; lentigo = lens), usually occurring in plural (plural = lentigines), benign, yellow-brown to brown-black, well-bordered spot of the skin and/or mucosa (exception: lentigo maligna = in situ melanoma).
The cause is a melanocyte proliferation in the basal layer of the surface epithelium (especially in lentigo solaris, epidermal proliferation may also occur).
Lentigines may be a marker symptom for a genetic disorder, but also an indication of increased solar stress (see also Lentigines syndromes).