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martyr

 - 4 dictionary results

mar⋅tyr

  [mahr-ter]
Use martyr in a Sentence
–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)
5. to make a martyr of, esp. by putting to death.
6. to torment or torture.
Origin:
bef. 900; (n.) ME marter, OE martyr < LL < LGk mártyr, var. of Gk mártys, mártyros witness; (v.) ME martiren, OE martyrian, deriv. of n.

Related forms:
mar⋅tyr⋅ish, adjective
mar⋅tyr⋅ly, adverb, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To martyr
mar·tyr   (mär'tər)   
n.  

  1. One who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce religious principles.

  2. One who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle.

    1. One who endures great suffering: a martyr to arthritis.

    2. One who makes a great show of suffering in order to arouse sympathy.

tr.v.   mar·tyred, mar·tyr·ing, mar·tyrs

  1. To make a martyr of, especially to put to death for devotion to religious beliefs.

  2. To inflict great pain on; torment.


[Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Late Greek martur, from Greek martus, martur-, witness.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

martyr 
O.E., from L.L., from Gk. martyr, earlier martys (gen. martyros) in Christian use "martyr," lit. "witness," probably related to mermera "care, trouble," from mermairein "be anxious or thoughtful," from PIE *(s)mrtu- (cf. Skt. smarati "remember," L. memor "mindful;" see memory). Adopted directly into most Gmc. languages, but O.N. substituted native formation pislarvattr, lit. "torture-witness." Martyr complex "exaggerated desire for self-sacrifice" is attested from 1931.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Bible Dictionary

Martyr

one who bears witness of the truth, and suffers death in the cause of Christ (Acts 22:20; Rev. 2:13; 17:6). In this sense Stephen was the first martyr. The Greek word so rendered in all other cases is translated "witness." (1.) In a court of justice (Matt. 18:16; 26:65; Acts 6:13; 7:58; Heb. 10:28; 1 Tim. 5:19). (2.) As of one bearing testimony to the truth of what he has seen or known (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:8, 22; Rom. 1:9; 1 Thess. 2:5, 10; 1 John 1:2).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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