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crucify

[kroo-suh-fahy]
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verb (used with object), cru·ci·fied, cru·ci·fy·ing.
  1. to put to death by nailing or binding the hands and feet to a cross.
  2. to treat with gross injustice; persecute; torment; torture.
  3. to subdue (passion, sin, etc.).
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Origin of crucify

Middle English crucifien < Anglo-French, Old French crucifier < Latin crucifīgere, equivalent to Latin cruci- (stem of crux) cross + fīgere to fix, bind fast
Related formscru·ci·fi·er, nounun·cru·ci·fied, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
British Dictionary definitions for crucify

crucify

verb -fies, -fying or -fied (tr)
  1. to put to death by crucifixion
  2. slang to defeat, ridicule, etc, totallythe critics crucified his performance
  3. to treat very cruelly; torment
  4. to subdue (passion, lust, etc); mortify
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Derived Formscrucifier, noun

Word Origin

C13: from Old French crucifier, from Late Latin crucifīgere to crucify, to fasten to a cross, from Latin crux cross + fīgere to fasten
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for crucify

v.

c.1300, from Old French crucifer (12c., Modern French crucifier), from Vulgar Latin *crucificare, from Late Latin crucifigere "to fasten to a cross," from cruci, dative of Latin crux "cross" (see cross (n.)) + figere "fasten" (see fix (v.)). An ancient mode of capital punishment considered especially ignominious by the Romans. Figurative sense of "to torment" is 1620s. Related: Crucified; crucifying.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper