Stig"ma (?), n.; pl. E.
Stigmas (#), L. Stigmata (#). [L.,
a mark, a brand, from Gr. ?, ?, the prick or mark of a pointed
instrument, a spot, mark, from ? to prick, to brand. See
Stick, v. t.] 1. A mark
made with a burning iron; a brand.
2. Any mark of infamy or disgrace; sign of
moral blemish; stain or reproach caused by dishonorable conduct;
reproachful characterization.
The blackest stigma that can be fastened upon
him.
Bp. Hall.
All such slaughters were from thence called Bartelmies,
simply in a perpetual stigma of that butchery.
Sir G. Buck.
3. (Bot.) That part of a pistil which
has no epidermis, and is fitted to receive the pollen. It is usually
the terminal portion, and is commonly somewhat glutinous or viscid.
See Illust. of Stamen and of Flower.
4. (Anat.) A small spot, mark, scar, or
a minute hole; -- applied especially to a spot on the outer surface of
a Graafian follicle, and to spots of intercellular substance in scaly
epithelium, or to minute holes in such spots.
5. (Pathol.) A red speck upon the skin,
produced either by the extravasation of blood, as in the bloody sweat
characteristic of certain varieties of religious ecstasy, or by
capillary congestion, as in the case of drunkards.
6. (Zoöl.) (a) One
of the external openings of the tracheæ of insects, myriapods,
and other arthropods; a spiracle. (b) One
of the apertures of the pulmonary sacs of arachnids. See
Illust. of Scorpion. (c) One
of the apertures of the gill of an ascidian, and of
Amphioxus.
7. (Geom.) A point so connected by any
law whatever with another point, called an index, that as the
index moves in any manner in a plane the first point or stigma moves
in a determinate way in the same plane.
8. pl. (R. C. Ch.) Marks
believed to have been supernaturally impressed upon the bodies of
certain persons in imitation of the wounds on the crucified body of
Christ. See def. 5, above.