stigma
nounEtymology From Byzantine Greek στίγμα (stígma), likely coined by analogy with σίγμα (sígma).
1
Media, Publishing, Typography A ligature of the Greek letters sigma and tau: Ϛ / ϛ.
stigma
noun/ˈstɪɡmə/
Etymology From Latin stigma, from Ancient Greek στίγμα (stígma, “mark of slavery or disgrace”), from στίζω (stízō, “to mark”). Closely related to stigme, and distantly related to stick.
9 senses
- 1An indication of infamy or disgrace.
- 2A permanent identity mark branded, cut or tattooed onto…
- 3A negative and often unfair attitude (held by a group or…
- 4A mark on the body corresponding to one of the wounds of…
- 5An expression or behaviour revealing one's hidden feelings.
- 6A scar or birthmark.
- 7The sticky part of a flower that receives pollen during…
- 8A visible sign or characteristic of a disease.
- 9Synonym of pterostigma.
1
An indication of infamy or disgrace.
- But to have as an enforced dining companion a man who was probably a Papist, certainly a rake, and bore the stigma of cowardice, was anathema.2023 September 8, David Donachie, A Shred of Honour: A Markham of the Marines Novel, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 2:
2
Historical A permanent identity mark branded, cut or tattooed onto the skin, typically given to slaves, criminals and traitors.
3
Figuratively A negative and often unfair attitude (held by a group or society, to something).
- Yet, because of the stigma around nursing home placement, it is hard to find advocates from among the natural advocacy groups the families. You don't see families organized around long-term care as you do around specific diseases.1982, Journal of Gerontological Nursing:
- Hence, the stigma attached to mental disorders in general forms the basis of the stigma towards women with mental health problems. […]2010 March 18, Dora Kohen, Oxford Textbook of Women and Mental Health, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 5:
2 more examples
- Coming into contact with the person affected by mental illness can help reduce the stigma that the public has towards the illness.2018 March 8, Darko Pozder, Without Stigma: About the Stigma of the Mental Illness, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN:
- ... the stigma in the United States about the lower class accessing “welfare,” […]2024 December 15, Amy Speier, Mobility in North American Surrogacy: A Fertile Global Industry, Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, →ISBN, page 67:
4
Christianity A mark on the body corresponding to one of the wounds of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and sometimes reported to bleed periodically.
Chiefly in the plural stigmata
5
Figuratively, Poetic, Rare An expression or behaviour revealing one's hidden feelings.
- Bradly scowled - the stigmata of alarm. What ultimate threat to his peace and privacy did this dropping in by young Podson imply?1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 65:
6
A scar or birthmark.
7
Biology, Botany, Natural sciences The sticky part of a flower that receives pollen during pollination.
- Black crowberry. Empetrum nigrum. Crowberry Family. Fruit. — The black drupe is berrylike, globular, and incloses six to nine seedlike nutlets with a seed in each. The calyx is at the base and the stigma is at the apex. The drupes are solitary in the leaf axils. They are juicy, acid, edible, and serve as food for the Arctic birds.1905, Maude Gridley Peterson, How to Know Wild Fruits: A Guide to Plants When Not in Flower by Means of Fruit and Leaf, Macmillan, page 202:
- Now you see just how the stamen gets its lusty dust onto the stigma / And why this frenzied chlorophyllous orgy starts in spring is no enigma!1982, Dennis Linde, “Reproduction”, in Grease 2:
8
Medicine, Sciences A visible sign or characteristic of a disease.
- Derived terms
- antistigma, orbicular stigma, pseudostigma, social stigma, stigmal, stigmaless, stigmatic, stigmatize, stigmatose
- Related terms
- astigmatism