martyr

[mahr-ter]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR martyr ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a person who willingly suffers death rather than renounce his or her religion.

a person who is put to death or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause: a martyr to the cause of social justice.

a person who undergoes severe or constant suffering: a martyr to severe headaches.

a person who seeks sympathy or attention by feigning or exaggerating pain, deprivation, etc.

verb (used with object)

to make a martyr of, especially by putting to death.

to torment or torture.

Origin of martyr

before 900; (noun) Middle English marter, Old English martyr < Late Latin < Late Greek mártyr, variant of Greek mártys, mártyros witness; (v.) Middle English martiren, Old English martyrian, derivative of noun

Related formsmar·tyr·ish, adjectivemar·tyr·ly, adverb, adjectiveun·mar·tyred, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for martyr

scapegoat, victim, saint, offering, sufferer

Examples from the Web for martyr

Contemporary Examples of martyr

Conservative Muslim women in Turkey hailed Esme as a martyr and a symbol of female strength and resistance.
Allah, Mom, and Baklava: Turkish President Uses Mothers and Kids as Political Pawns
Xanthe Ackerman
November 27, 2014
He informed her that Hamzat had “become a shahid,” a martyr, and he was dead.
The Secret Life of an ISIS Warlord
Will Cathcart, Vazha Tavberidze, Nino Burchuladze
October 27, 2014
With that, writes historian Edward Larson, “The fundamentalist movement acquired a martyr.”
The Scopes Monkey Trial 2.0: It’s Not About the Stupid Science-Deniers
Michael Schulson
July 21, 2014
“Claiming that moderation in a time of such crisis is no virtue,” the martyr of American Russian studies declared.
Meet the Anti-Semites, Truthers, and Alaska Pol at D.C.’s Pro-Putin Soiree
James Kirchick
June 17, 2014
Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA), the House Armed Services Committee chairman, cast Cantor as a martyr for his party.
Republicans Panicked After Eric Cantor Loss: ‘This Is Like Robespierre’
Ben Jacobs, Tim Mak
June 11, 2014

Historical Examples of martyr

The martyr's crown awaits them, for they display the martyr's spirit.
Female Scripture Biographies, Vol. I
Francis Augustus Cox
I must not make a martyr of myself, when I am one of so large a company.'
Little Dorrit
Charles Dickens
I found it in this cell, after the death of the martyr, and have preserved it as a relic.
The Black Tulip
Alexandre Dumas (Pere)
She had beheld the Virgin, she was the chosen one, the martyr.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola
At bottom he is simply a martyr who has followed the wrong track.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola

British Dictionary definitions for martyr

martyr

noun

a person who suffers death rather than renounce his religious beliefs

a person who suffers greatly or dies for a cause, belief, etc

a person who suffers from poor health, misfortune, etche's a martyr to rheumatism

facetious, or derogatory a person who feigns suffering to gain sympathy, help, etc

verb Also: 'martyrˌize, 'martyrˌise (tr)

to kill as a martyr

to make a martyr of

Derived Formsmartyrization or martyrisation, noun

Word Origin for martyr

Old English martir, from Church Latin martyr, from Late Greek martur-, martus witness

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 martyr

Old English martyr, from Late Latin martyr, from Doric Greek martyr, earlier martys (genitive martyros) in Christian use "martyr," literally "witness," probably related to mermera "care, trouble," from mermairein "be anxious or thoughtful," from PIE *(s)mrtu- (cf. Sanskrit smarati "remember," Latin memor "mindful;" see memory).

Adopted directly into most Germanic languages, but Norse substituted native formation pislarvattr, literally "torture-witness." General sense of "constant sufferer" is from 1550s. Martyr complex "exaggerated desire for self-sacrifice" is attested from 1920.

Old English martyrian, from martyr (see martyr (n.)). Middle English also had a verb martyrize.