crucify
[kroo-suh-fahy]
- to put to death by nailing or binding the hands and feet to a cross.
- to treat with gross injustice; persecute; torment; torture.
- 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
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words for crucify
torment, torture, hang, excruciate, harrow, kill, persecute, martyr, rack, martyrize, bedevil, smite, afflict, ill-treat, agonize, bother, ridicule, try, lampoon, pancrucify
- to put to death by crucifixion
- slang to defeat, ridicule, etc, totallythe critics crucified his performance
- to treat very cruelly; torment
- to subdue (passion, lust, etc); mortify
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Word Origin for crucify
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
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Word Origin and History for crucify
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