||Sto"ma (?), n.; pl. Stomata (#). [NL., fr. Gr. &?;, &?;, a mouth.] 1. (Anat.) One of the minute apertures between the cells in many serous membranes.

2. (Bot.) (a) The minute breathing pores of leaves or other organs opening into the intercellular spaces, and usually bordered by two contractile cells. (b) The line of dehiscence of the sporangium of a fern. It is usually marked by two transversely elongated cells. See Illust. of Sporangium.

3. (Zoöl.) A stigma. See Stigma, n., 6 (a) & (b).

||Sto"ma (?), n.; pl. Stomata (#). [NL., fr. Gr. &?;, &?;, a mouth.] 1. (Anat.) One of the minute apertures between the cells in many serous membranes.

2. (Bot.) (a) The minute breathing pores of leaves or other organs opening into the intercellular spaces, and usually bordered by two contractile cells. (b) The line of dehiscence of the sporangium of a fern. It is usually marked by two transversely elongated cells. See Illust. of Sporangium.

3. (Zoöl.) A stigma. See Stigma, n., 6 (a) & (b).

• (botany) One of the tiny pores in the epidermis of a leaf or stem through which gases and water vapour pass
  
• A small opening in a membrane; a surgically constructed opening, especially one in the abdominal wall that permits the passage of waste after a colostomy or ileostomy
  
• (zoology) A mouthlike opening, such as the oral cavity of a nematode
  
• artificial anus