stigma

Forms

stigma n (genitive stigmatis); third declension^[1] Petronius also has a first-declension feminine stigma, -ae (accusative stigmam).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek στίγμα (stígma, “prick, puncture, mark”).^[2][3][5][1] Köbler traces it further to the root Proto-Indo-European *steig- (“to prick, stick”).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest source is Seneca,^[6] who speaks of branding a soldier (mīlitī stigmata īnscrībere);^[7] Conte also cites a passage of Vitruvius.^[7] The sense is a mark burned or pricked into the skin of runaway slaves and criminals.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

In the literal sense it appears in Petronius, Quintilian, who speaks of writing the brand on a runaway slave (stigmata fugitīvō scrībere), Suetonius and Pliny the Elder,^[3] and Juvenal calls someone deserving of the brand (stigmate dignus).^[3][7] Martial and Suetonius use it figuratively for a lasting mark of disgrace: Suetonius says that Catullus' verses had branded Mamurra for ever.^[2][3] Martial also uses it jokingly for a cut left by a clumsy barber.^[3][4]

In Christian Latin the Vulgate uses the plural in Galatians for marks of ownership borne in the body,^[3][7] later understood as the stigmata of Christ's wounds;^[8][7] the Vulgate also uses it of tattooing in Leviticus.^[7] Medieval writers used it for a magic symbol, a mark of dignity and a nun's veil.^[9] It was borrowed into English in the 1590s for a mark burned into the skin, after an earlier form stigme of about 1400.^[10]

Timeline

• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca uses it of branding.^[6][7]
• before 66 AD – Petronius uses the literal sense and a first-declension form.^[3][2][6]
• 40–102/103 AD – Martial uses it of a mark of disgrace and of a barber's cut.^[2][3][6]
• c. 75–c. 150 AD – Suetonius uses it figuratively of Catullus' verses on Mamurra.^[2][6]
• 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses the plural in Galatians.^[3][7][6]
• 1590s – Borrowed into English as stigma.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A brand or mark burned or pricked into the skin of runaway slaves, criminals and others.^[2][3][4]
2. (figurative) A mark of disgrace, infamy.^[2][3][4]
3. A cut on the face made by a clumsy barber.^[3][4]
4. (Ecclesiastical Latin, plural) The marks of Christ's wounds, the stigmata.^[8][7]
5. (Ecclesiastical Latin) A tattoo.^[7]
6. (Medieval Latin) A magic symbol; a mark of dignity; a nun's veil.^[9]

Word family

• stigmo
• stigmōsus

Usage notes

In medieval texts stigma is also a spelling of stemma.^[9][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
5. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
6. ^ a b c d e f g Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
8. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
9. ^ a b c Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com