stoma

/ˈstəʊmə/

//ˈstəʊmə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"stoma" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“stoma” is uncommon English (frequency #74,538 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#74,538
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - One of the tiny pores in the epidermis of a leaf or stem through which gases and water vapor pass.

Corpus desk

Index EN-stoma · stoma · English

stoma · rank #74,538 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #74,538
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Stonehouse

Nearest frequency peer: Stonehouse (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “stoma”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “stoma” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for stoma
PropertyValue
Headwordstoma
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈstəʊmə/
Letters5
Frequency rank#74,538
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “stoma” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).stomafalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Stonehouse” (#74,539), “staycation” (#74,536), “strikeforce” (#74,541). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “stoma” is #74,538. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

stoma is uncommon English at frequency #74,538 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈstəʊmə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for stoma in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From New Latin stoma, from Ancient Greek στόμα (stóma, “mouth”). The correct English form is stoma, spelled S-T-O-M-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    One of the tiny pores in the epidermis of a leaf or stem through which gases and water vapor pass.
  2. 2
    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.
  3. 3
    A mouthlike opening, such as the oral cavity of a nematode.
  4. 4
    An artificial anus.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how stoma appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. From a large tote bag sat beside her, she takes out a Victoria Beckham makeup bag, which contains her urostomy night bag, which plugs into the bag on the stoma.

Etymology

From New Latin stoma, from Ancient Greek στόμα (stóma, “mouth”).

This word in other languages

estoma(Español)stomate(Français)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "stoma"?
"stoma" is spelled S-T-O-M-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈstəʊmə/.
What does "stoma" mean?
As a noun, "stoma" means: One of the tiny pores in the epidermis of a leaf or stem through which gases and water vapor pass.
How do you pronounce "stoma"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "stoma" is /ˈstəʊmə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "stoma"?
From New Latin stoma, from Ancient Greek στόμα (stóma, “mouth”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "stoma", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

spall#74,529softy#74,523swash#74,554tamas#74,560

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list