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definitions

martyr

[mahr-ter]
See more synonyms for martyr on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person who willingly suffers death rather than renounce his or her religion.
  2. 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.
  3. a person who undergoes severe or constant suffering: a martyr to severe headaches.
  4. a person who seeks sympathy or attention by feigning or exaggerating pain, deprivation, etc.
verb (used with object)
  1. to make a martyr of, especially by putting to death.
  2. 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. 2018

Related Words for martyred

torture, expel, pursue, injure, maltreat, harass, outrage, molest, hound, oppress, victimize, torment, wrench, afflict, shake, try, attack, hit, invade, annoy

Examples from the Web for martyred

Contemporary Examples of martyred

Historical Examples of martyred

  • Let him only be supposed to be martyred by these, and there is no saying where his popularity may be carried.

    The Fortunes Of Glencore

    Charles James Lever

  • Twelve other christians, who had been intimate with Polycarp, were soon after martyred.

  • They were martyred by being tied to posts, and having their feet pierced with nails.

  • This building was yet unfinished when Wenceslaus was martyred.

    From a Terrace in Prague

    Lieut.-Col. B. Granville Baker

  • A Ftiha in the name of Husain and of those who were martyred with him is then said.

British Dictionary definitions for martyred

martyr

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, etche's a martyr to rheumatism
  4. facetious, or derogatory a person who feigns suffering to gain sympathy, help, etc
verb Also: 'martyrˌize, 'martyrˌise (tr)
  1. to kill as a martyr
  2. 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 martyred

martyr

v.

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

martyr

n.

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper