Etymology

astigmatism

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Today it means: A defect of a lens such that light rays coming from a point do not meet at a focal point so that the image is blurred. Full definition →

Ancient Greek στίγμα
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromστίγμα“mark, point”
  2. English todayastigmatism

From a- (negative prefix) + stem of Ancient Greek στίγμα (stígma, “mark, point”) + -ism. Coined by English polymath William Whewell in 1846.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekστίγμα all →

stigmastigmataastigmiastigmatstigmergy

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.