See Also: Stigma(medicine)
stigma(dictionary)
stigma(dictionary)
follicular stigma(medicine)
stigma ventriculi(medicine)

stigma (iou)



stigma noun. . L16.
[Latin from Greek stigma, -mat-, from base of stizein to prick: see STICK verb1.]
A mark made on the skin by pricking, cutting, or (esp.) branding, as a sign of disgrace or subjection. L16.
b. In pl. Marks resembling the wounds on Jesus' crucified body, said to have appeared on the bodies of certain saints etc. M17.
a. A mark or sign of disgrace or discredit, regarded as impressed on or carried by a person or thing. E17.
J. Halperin Illegitimacy was an unambiguous stigma for the Victorians.
b. A visible or apparent characteristic indicative of some (esp. undesirable or discreditable) quality, action, or circumstance (foll. by of); Medicine a visible sign of a disease or condition. M19.
L. Woolf He was indelibly marked with the hereditary stigmata of..wealth and aristocracy. P. Fussell The upper class has its distinct stigmata. C. McCullough Old and plain and marked forever with stigmata of years of toil.
Medicine. A mark or blemish on the skin indicating a disease or condition, esp. one which bleeds spontaneously. Now rare or obsolete. M17.
Zoology.
a. A small external opening or pore; esp. a spiracle. M18.
b. A natural spot or mark; esp. a spot on the wing of a butterfly or other insect. E19.
Botany. That part of the pistil in flowering plants which receives the pollen in impregnation, very varied in shape, and situated either directly on the ovary (sessile) or at the summit (more rarely, the side) of the style. Also, an analogous structure in cryptogams. M18.
stigmal adjective (chiefly Zoology) of, pertaining to, or of the nature of a stigma E20.