I read this phrase in an article:
"there is a stigma attached to being a female business owner."
What does "a stigma attached to" mean here? And how to use it?
Learn English – What does it mean” a stigma attached to?” and how to use it
phrase-meaning
Related Solutions
To begin with, the noun rank has nothing to do with the adjective rank.
The noun is of French origin (possibly Frankish ultimately) and originally denoted a series or line of things (range has the same origin); then specifically a line of warriors or soldiers (whence our 'rank and file'); then the successive lines, the first, second, third ranks, and so forth, in which soldiers are deployed; and finally, by way of one's position in the front, middle or rear rank, one's grade or standing.
The adjective rank is of Germanic origin; the precise line of descent is obscure but it seems originally to have denoted various attributes of the noble warrior: proud, haughty, rebellious, strong, vigorous, full-grown. In ME the martial connection faded and the word became used particularly of undesired and excessive strength, vigor and abundance; it was extended to vegetation (we still speak of 'rank weeds') and to loathsome behavior and smells (O mine offense is rank says Claudius); eventually it acquired such a strong negative connotation that came to mean 'corrupt, foul, festering', and eventually simply 'extremely (offensive)'.
See the Oxford English Dictionary, 1st edition.
When your source writes of rank dishonesty it probably does not intend any one of these later senses but (at some level) all of them simultaneously: extremely gross, corrupt, loathsome dishonesty.
a snaking line
looks and moves like a snake
Best Answer
Originally a "stigma" was a mark or blemish on the skin, usually a sign of disgrace as when the mark was the result of punishment for wrongdoing, for example being literally "branded" with a hot iron to show that you were a criminal.
Now "stigma" refers to the reaction of disgust or condescension which other people have when they recognise the mark, because they associate it with disgraceful or dishonourable activity. For example, the heads of disgraced women (traitors, adulterers) were often shaved. Short hair on a woman suggested that she had done something shameful, and she was despised.
In this case the "mark" is any sign that the woman is doing something traditionally reserved for a man - eg wearing trousers or short hair, ordering men around, negotiating on the same level as men.