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martyrish

 - 2 dictionary results

mar⋅tyr

  [mahr-ter]
Use martyrish 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.
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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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