Which term describes a brown or tan spot on the skin due to sun damage?

The term that best describes a brown or tan spot on the skin due to sun damage is lentigo. Lentigines are common skin lesions that can appear as small spots with increased pigmentation, often resulting from prolonged exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light. They usually develop on sun-exposed areas of the skin, making them particularly prevalent in older individuals or those with significant sun exposure over their lifetime.

While freckles are small, flat brown marks typically influenced by genetics and sun exposure, they are often lighter and more numerous, appearing especially in fair-skinned individuals. Birthmarks are entirely different; they are congenital pigmented or non-pigmented marks on the skin that one is born with, and they are not specifically caused by sun exposure. Aging spots, commonly known as age spots or solar lentigines, refer to larger areas of increased pigmentation due to cumulative sun exposure but are more informal terms and do not encompass the technical definition of lentigo as precisely. Thus, lentigo is the most accurate term for spots that result specifically from sun damage.