Nearby Words

martyrs

[mahr-ter] Origin

mar·tyr

[mahr-ter]
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, especially by putting to death.
6.
to torment or torture.

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Martyrs is always a great word to know.
So is zedonk. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

Origin:
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

mar·tyr·ish, adjective
mar·tyr·ly, adverb, adjective
un·mar·tyred, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Etymonline
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
EXPAND
memory). Adopted directly into most Germanic languages, but O.N. substituted native formation pislarvattr, lit. "torture-witness." Related: Martyred. Martyr complex "exaggerated desire for self-sacrifice" is attested from 1931.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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