Word of the Week – Stigma

As my husband and I were walking along the beach on vacation and talking about…something or another (mental health, maybe?), he was reaching for the word stigma and instead said stigmata, which proved hilarious for the conversation. And also made us stop and go, “Huh. Those are obviously related,” and I figured they both meant mark. Naturally, I had to look it up to make sure I was right!

So, yes. Stigma dates from 1590s with that spelling (and was spelled stigme as early as 1400) and basically meant a brand–“a mark made on the skin by burning it with a hot iron.” (Youch!) It comes from the Latin stigma, which meant “mark of a pointed instrument, puncture, tattoo, or brand.” The root is steig-, which means “to stick” or “pointed,” and itself comes from the Greek word of the same sound and meaning.

Interesting note–stigma is the singular. Plural? You guessed it! Stigmata.

So let’s move to the figurative sense of “a mark of disgrace or infamy.” That is pretty old too, dating from around 1610. Interestingly, the “marks resembling the wounds on the body of Christ that appear supernaturally,” which we today call stigmata, was originally stigmas and dates from 1630 in that form; as early as the 1300s it was in use, but spelled stigmate. The plural Latin stigmata did also begin to be used at the same time and eventually displaced stigmas for that sense, differentiating it from the other forms of marks or brands that got the word.

Word Nerds Merch!