martyr

American  

[mahr-ter] / ˈmɑr tər /

noun

1. a person who willingly suffers death rather than renounce their religion.

2. a person who is put to death or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause.

   Her death has made her a martyr to the cause of social justice.

3. a person who undergoes severe or constant suffering.

   The patient was a martyr to severe headaches.

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

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verb (used with object)

1. to persecute for supporting a belief or cause, especially by putting to death.

2. to torment or torture.

martyr British  

/ ˈmɑːtə /

noun

1. a person who suffers death rather than renounce his religious beliefs

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

3. a person who suffers from poor health, misfortune, etc

   he's a martyr to rheumatism

4. facetious a person who feigns suffering to gain sympathy, help, etc

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verb

1. to kill as a martyr

2. to make a martyr of

Other Word Forms

• martyrish adjective
• martyrization noun
• martyrly adverb
• unmartyred adjective

Etymology

Origin of martyr

First recorded before 900; Middle English noun martir, marter, Old English martyr from Old French and Late Latin, from Late Greek mártyr, dialect variant of Greek mártys, mártyros “witness”; verb derivative of noun

Example Sentences

In the North, church bells tolled for Brown, a martyr to abolition.

From Literature

"From the very beginning, since the time of the catacombs, Christians have venerated the bones of martyrs, the relics of martyrs, and they have never really experienced it as something macabre," Cesareo said.

From Barron's

"Thousands of martyrs shed their blood, including many of my close comrades," the 37-year-old added.

From Barron's

"Before their death, the heroic martyrs must have pictured in their mind's eye their dear families living in the ever-prospering country," he added.

From Barron's

Ahead of the burial on Friday, locals also carried those portraits and flags while chanting pro-Gaddafi slogans and declaring that "the martyrs' blood will not be shed in vain".

From Barron's

Related Words

• scapegoat