ˈstigmə noun
( plural stigma·ta stigˈmä]d.ə, ˈstigmə], stigˈma], stigˈmȧ], ]tə ; or stigmas )
Etymology: Latin stigmat-, stigma mark, brand, from Greek, mark, tattoo mark, from stizein to tattoo — more at stick
1.
a. archaic : a scar left by a hot iron : brand
when a burning iron is put on the face of an evildoer, it leaveth behind it a … stigma — Samuel Rutherford
b. : a mark of shame or discredit : disgrace , stain
the stigma of personal cowardice — William Peden
the pathos and the stigma of slavery — W.L.Sperry
avoid the stigma of being called unprogressive — W.H.Camp
c. : an identifying mark or characteristic
the clothing and characteristic stigmata of the profession — R.P.Blackmur
curmudgeonly inability to praise others which has ever been the stigma by which we may recognize the ungenerous — Eric Partridge
specifically : a symptom of a physical or mental disorder
stigmas of the riboflavin deficiency state include ocular changes — Therapeutic Notes
stigmata of degeneration, drug addictions, and nervous and mental diseases — H.G.Armstrong
d. : a mark or label indicating deviation from a norm
a further stigma is the tendency for most phrases to end on the tonic — Bruno Nettl
2.
a. stigmata plural : marks resembling the wounds on the crucified body of Christ and believed to be supernaturally impressed upon the bodies of various persons (as St. Francis of Assisi)
b. : petechia
3.
[New Latin stigmat-, stigma, from Latin\]
a.
(1) : a spiracle of an insect or other arthropod or the opening into one of the lung sacs of an arachnid
(2) : pterostigma
(3) : an androconium forming a conspicuously colored spot on the forewing of the male of various butterflies
b. : a portion of the pistil of a flower usually apical on the style or ovary and often viscid or rough which receives the pollen grains and upon which they germinate — see flower illustration
c. : the spot or projection on the surface of an ovary at which a Graafian follicle will rupture
d.
(1) : the eyespot of a protozoan
(2) : a nephridiopore of an annelid
(3) : one of the small clefts or perforations in the branchial sac of an ascidian