[sto.ma] n, pl sto.ma.ta also stomas [NL, fr. Gk stomat-, stoma mouth] (ca. 1684) 1: any of various small simple bodily openings esp. in a lower animal
2: one of the minute openings in the epidermis of a plant organ (as a leaf) through which gaseous interchange takes place; also: the opening with its associated cellular structures
3: an artificial permanent opening esp. in the abdominal wall made in surgical procedures