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mortify

 - 5 dictionary results

mor⋅ti⋅fy

  [mawr-tuh-fahy] verb, -fied, -fy⋅ing.
Use mortify in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to humiliate or shame, as by injury to one's pride or self-respect.
2. to subjugate (the body, passions, etc.) by abstinence, ascetic discipline, or self-inflicted suffering.
3. Pathology. to affect with gangrene or necrosis.
–verb (used without object)
4. to practice mortification or disciplinary austerities.
5. Pathology. to undergo mortification; become gangrened or necrosed.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME mortifien < MF mortifier < LL mortificāre to put to death, equiv. to L morti- (s. of mors) death + -ficāre -fy

Related forms:
mor⋅ti⋅fied⋅ly, adverb
mor⋅ti⋅fi⋅er, noun
mor⋅ti⋅fy⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. humble, abase. 2. subdue, restrain.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To mortify
mor·ti·fy   (môr'tə-fī')   
v.   mor·ti·fied, mor·ti·fy·ing, mor·ti·fies

v.   tr.

  1. To cause to experience shame, humiliation, or wounded pride; humiliate.

  2. To discipline (one's body and physical appetites) by self-denial or self-inflicted privation.

v.   intr.

  1. To practice ascetic discipline or self-denial of the body and its appetites.

  2. Pathology To undergo mortification; become gangrenous or necrosed.


[Middle English mortifien, to deaden, subdue, from Old French mortifier, from Latin mortificāre, to kill : mors, mort-, death; see mer- in Indo-European roots + -ficāre, -fy.]
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

mortify 
1382, "to kill," from O.Fr. mortifier, from L.L. mortificare "cause death," from mortificus "producing death," from L. mors (gen. mortis) "death" (see mortal) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Religious sense of "to subdue the flesh by abstinence and discipline" first attested c.1412. Sense of "humiliate" first recorded 1645 in mortification (which is attested c.1386 in its base sense of "mortifying the flesh").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: mor·ti·fy
Pronunciation: 'mort-&-"fI
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Forms: -fied; -fy·ing
: tobecome necrotic or gangrenous
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

mortify mor·ti·fy (môr'tə-fī')
v. mor·ti·fied, mor·ti·fy·ing, mor·ti·fies
To undergo mortification; to become gangrenous or to necrotize.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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