stigme

stigme

English

Etymology

An adaptation of the short stem (stigm-, στιγμ- (stigm-)) of the Latin stigma and the Ancient Greek στίγμα (stígma). Compare stigmal and stigmate; hypodigm and paradigm; hexastigm, polystigm, tetrastigm, and tristigm.

Noun

stigme (plural stigmes)

1. (obsolete, rare) Anglicised form of stigma
   • c. 1400, Apology for Lollard Doctrines, page 92:

     Ȝe schal not prik ȝor flesch, ne mak to ȝow ani figeris, ne stigmes, þat are woundis.

     Ye shall not prick your flesh, nor make to you any figures, nor stigmes, that are wounds.

   • a. 1619, Martin Fotherby, Atheomastix (1622), book I, chapter iv, § 1, page 20:

     None..haue..branded any nation with the marke and stigme of Atheisme.

2. A dot used as a punctuation mark in historical Greek texts, especially at the top of the line, equivalent to a period or full stop.

References

• NED (1st ed.) IX:i (1919), page 956

Anagrams

• SIGMET, misget