stig
ma
Plural
stigmas
1
a visible mark on the skin that serves as a symptom of a particular medical condition
- The physician noted a stigma on the patient's arm consistent with Lyme disease.
- Certain viral infections produce a distinct stigma on the skin.
- The rash acted as a stigma, helping doctors identify the illness quickly.
- Leprosy often presents with a characteristic stigma on the extremities.
- The presence of a stigma led to immediate quarantine procedures.
2
a small external opening on the body of an arthropod through which air enters the tracheal system for respiration
- Each stigma on the insect's abdomen connects to its internal air tubes.
- The beetle breathes through paired stigmata along its thorax.
- Scientists studied the stigma to understand airflow in grasshoppers.
- Damage to the stigma can impair an arthropod's ability to breathe.
- The spider's stigma is located near its book lungs.
3
a mark of shame attached to a person or condition, often resulting in exclusion or discrimination
- Mental illness still carries a stigma in many communities.
- She overcame the stigma of her past and rebuilt her life.
- Poverty should not be a stigma, but a call for compassion.
- The stigma of addiction made it hard for him to find work.
- There's a growing movement to break the stigma around seeking therapy.
4
the top part of the pistil in a flower, where pollen lands and germinates to begin the fertilization process
- The bee brushed pollen onto the flower's stigma.
- The stigma is often sticky to help capture pollen grains.
- Pollen tubes grow from the stigma down into the ovary.
- The shape of the stigma varies among plant species.
- Fertilization begins when pollen adheres to the stigma.