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stigma

Pronunciation: /ˈstɪgmə/

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Definition of stigma

noun (plural stigmas or especially in sense 2 stigmata /-mətə, -ˈmɑːtə/)

  • 1a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person:the stigma of mental disorder to be a non-reader carries a social stigma
  • 2 (stigmata) (in Christian tradition) marks corresponding to those left on Christ’s body by the Crucifixion, said to have been impressed by divine favour on the bodies of St Francis of Assisi and others.
  • 3 Medicine a visible sign or characteristic of a disease: knee deformities or other stigmata of childhood rickets
  • a mark or spot on the skin.
  • 4 Botany (in a flower) the part of a pistil that receives the pollen during pollination.

Origin:

late 16th century (denoting a mark made by pricking or branding): via Latin from Greek stigma 'a mark made by a pointed instrument, a dot'; related to stick1

stigma in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of stigma in the US English dictionary
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