Etymology: stigma

I've been studying illness narratives this semester as part of an independent study. This introduced me to Arthur Kleinman's book, "The Illness Narratives." As part of his discussion of the storying of illness, Kleinman investigates the illness of stigma and, in the process, explores the history of stigma.

That history, or etymology, begins with the original Greek term stigma, meaning to literally "mark or brand." E. Goffman wrote, in his book entitled "Stigma", that in ancient times "signs were cut or burnt into the body and advertised that the bearer was a slave, a criminal, or a traitor - a blemished person, ritually polluted."

Eventually, stigma came to refer to a quality of disgrace rather than a physical marker.