A mark of shame or disgrace, a moral blemish, a stain on one's character
or reputation.
Stigma comes directly from Greek, and means literally a mark, brand,
tattoo. In its original but no longer common sense, stigma refers to a brand
or scar made with a red-hot iron in the flesh of slaves and criminals. Later it
came to be used of anything that branded a person as unwholesome or
disgraceful, a mark of shame, stain on one's character or reputation:
the
stigma of divorce; the stigma of a bad credit rating. The corresponding verb
is stigmatize (STIG-muh-tyz), to brand as shameful, set a mark of disgrace upon: The media rarely have an indifferent view of celebrities and
politicians; they either praise them or stigmatize them.
The plural of stigma is either stigmas or stigmata (preferably
STIG-muh-tuh; I'll elaborate in a moment). Stigmas is the anglicized plural
—to anglicize means to make English, conform to English modes of
spelling, pronunciation, and usage.
The
alternative pronunciation stig-MAH-tuh, with the accent on the second
syllable, has been around since the 1920s; it is now standard and listed first
in some dictionaries. Despite its popularity, however, stig-MAH-tuh is a
pseudoclassical pronunciation; in other words, those who say it that way
probably think they are following the proper classical accentuation. Although
stig-MAH-tuh is not wrong, it carries a slight stigma of affectation. There is
no such stigma associated with the pronunciation STIG-muh-tuh, which I
recommend as having a longer tradition and greater authority.
王二狗Mark
A mark of shame or disgrace, a moral blemish, a stain on one's character or reputation. Stigma comes directly from Greek, and means literally a mark, brand, tattoo. In its original but no longer common sense, stigma refers to a brand or scar made with a red-hot iron in the flesh of slaves and criminals. Later it came to be used of anything that branded a person as unwholesome or disgraceful, a mark of shame, stain on one's character or reputation:
王二狗Mark
the stigma of divorce; the stigma of a bad credit rating. The corresponding verb is stigmatize (STIG-muh-tyz), to brand as shameful, set a mark of disgrace upon: The media rarely have an indifferent view of celebrities and politicians; they either praise them or stigmatize them. The plural of stigma is either stigmas or stigmata (preferably STIG-muh-tuh; I'll elaborate in a moment). Stigmas is the anglicized plural —to anglicize means to make English, conform to English modes of spelling, pronunciation, and usage.
王二狗Mark
The alternative pronunciation stig-MAH-tuh, with the accent on the second syllable, has been around since the 1920s; it is now standard and listed first in some dictionaries. Despite its popularity, however, stig-MAH-tuh is a pseudoclassical pronunciation; in other words, those who say it that way probably think they are following the proper classical accentuation. Although stig-MAH-tuh is not wrong, it carries a slight stigma of affectation. There is no such stigma associated with the pronunciation STIG-muh-tuh, which I recommend as having a longer tradition and greater authority.