STOMA

(Lat.), n. n. Stom(stoam)'a3. Gen., stom'atos (-at is). Gr., oro/ua. Fr., stornate. Ger., S., Miindinig, Spaltoffnung <2d def.). 1. A mouth or opening. 2. A breathing pore; one of the organized apertures in the epidermis of plants, most abundant on the lower surface of leaves, consisting each of a pair of cells (guard cells) between the opposed concave sides of which is a slit forming a medium of communication between an intercellular space within and the air without, [a. 35.] 3. A minute opening in a serous membrane, surrounded by a ring of small cuboklal cells and leading into a lymph-ve el. [J.] 4. See under STIGMA (6th def.). False s'ta. See PSEUDO STOMATA. [s. 542]