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, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
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English
Etymology
From Middle English martir , from Old English martyr , itself a borrowing from Ecclesiastical Latin martyr , from Ancient Greek μάρτυρ ( mártur ) , later form of μάρτυς ( mártus , “ witness ” ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
martyr (plural martyrs )
One who willingly accepts being put to death for adhering openly to one's religious beliefs ; notably, saints canonized after martyrdom.
Saint Stephen was the first Christian martyr .
( by extension ) One who sacrifices their life, station, or something of great personal value, for the sake of principle or to sustain a cause.
( with a prepositional phrase of cause ) One who suffers greatly and/or constantly, even involuntarily.
Stan is a martyr to arthritis, Chris a martyr to Stan's endless moaning about it.
1937 , AJ Cronin, The Citadel :He'd been a martyr to asthma all his life.
1982 , J. G. Thirlwell (lyrics and music), “J.Q. Murder”, in Ache , performed by You've Got Foetus on Your Breath :J.Q. Murder wears sandpaper suits Broken glass in pocket, barbed wire boots Not because he's mean, but because he's a martyr He makes Jackie Collins look like Jean-Paul Sartre
Antonyms
Hyponyms
Derived terms
Translations
one willing to be killed for religion
Albanian: dëshmor (sq) m
Arabic: شَهِيد (ar) m ( šahīd ) , شَهِيدَة f ( šahīda ) (plural: شُهَدَاء m pl ( šuhadāʔ ) )
Aramaic: ܣܗܕܐ ( sahdah )
Armenian: մարտիրոս (hy) ( martiros ) , նահատակ (hy) ( nahatak ) , վկա (hy) ( vka )
Azerbaijani: şəhid (az)
Bashkir: шаһит ( şahit )
Belarusian: паку́тнік m ( pakútnik ) , паку́тніца f ( pakútnica ) , му́чальнік m ( múčalʹnik ) , му́чальніца f ( múčalʹnica ) , му́чанік m ( múčanik ) , му́чаніца f ( múčanica )
Bengali: শহীদ (bn) ( śohid )
Bulgarian: мъчени́к (bg) m ( mǎčeník ) , мъчени́чка f ( mǎčeníčka )
Catalan: màrtir (ca) m or f
Chechen: ӏазапхо ( ˀazapxo )
Chinese:
Mandarin: 烈士 (zh) ( lièshì ) , 殉道者 ( xùndàozhě )
Czech: mučedník (cs) m , mučednice f
Danish: martyr (da) c
Dutch: martelaar (nl) m , martelares (nl) f
Erzya: майсиця ( majśića )
Esperanto: martiro
Estonian: märter
Finnish: marttyyri (fi) , shahid
French: martyr (fr) m , martyre (fr) f , chahîd m , chahid m
Galician: mártir m or f
Georgian: წამებული ( c̣amebuli ) , მოწამე ( moc̣ame ) , მარტვილი (ka) ( marṭvili )
German: Märtyrer (de) m , Märtyrerin (de) f
Greek: μάρτυρας (el) m or f ( mártyras )
Hebrew: קָדֹושׁ (he) m ( kadósh ) ( explicitly Israelite or Jewish ) , מַרְטִיר m ( martír ) ( especially Christian ) , שָׁהִיד (he) m ( shahíd ) ( esp. Islamic ) , קָדֹושׁ מְעֻנֶּה m ( kadósh me'uné )
Hindi: शहीद (hi) m ( śahīd ) , शहीदा f ( śahīdā )
Hungarian: mártír (hu) , vértanú (hu)
Icelandic: píslarvottur m
Indonesian: syahid (id) , martir (id)
Irish: mairtíreach m
Italian: martire (it) m
Japanese: 殉教者 (ja) ( じゅんきょうしゃ, junkyōsha ) , シャヒード ( shahīdo )
Kazakh: шаһит ( şahit ) , шейіт ( şeiıt )
Korean: 순교자 ( sun'gyoja ) , 샤히드 ( syahideu )
Kumyk: шагьит ( şahit )
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: şehîd (ku)
Macedonian: маченик m ( mačenik ) , маченичка f ( mačenička )
Malay: syahid (ms) , martir (ms)
Malayalam: രക്തസാക്ഷി (ml) ( raktasākṣi )
Maori: matira
Norman: martyr m
Norwegian: martyr (no) m
Old Church Slavonic:
Cyrillic: мѫченикъ m ( mǫčenikŭ )
Ottoman Turkish: شهید
Pashto: شهيد (ps) m ( šahíd )
Persian: شهید (fa) ( šahid )
Polish: męczennik (pl) m , męczennica (pl) f
Portuguese: mártir (pt) m
Punjabi: ਸ਼ਹੀਦ (pa) ( śahīd )
Romanian: mucenic (ro) m , muceniță (ro) f
Russian: му́ченик (ru) m ( múčenik ) , му́ченица (ru) f ( múčenica ) , шахи́д (ru) m ( šaxíd ) , шахи́дка (ru) f ( šaxídka )
Scottish Gaelic: martair m
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: мученик m , шехид m ( Islam )
Roman: mučenik (sh) m , šehid m ( Islam )
Slovak: mučeník (sk) m , mučeníčka f , martýr m , martýrka f
Slovene: mučenik m , mučenica f
Spanish: mártir (es) m
Swedish: martyr (sv) c
Tajik: шаҳид ( šahid )
Tatar: шаһит (tt) ( şahit )
Thai: มรณสักขี (th)
Turkish: şehit (tr) , gazi (tr) , şehitler pl , gaziler pl , mücahit (tr) , mücahid (tr)
Turkmen: şahit
Ukrainian: му́ченик m ( múčenyk ) , му́чениця f ( múčenycja )
Urdu: شہید m ( šahīd )
Uyghur: شاھىت ( shahit )
Uzbek: shahid (uz)
Volapük: ( ♂♀ ) martüran (vo) , ( ♂ ) himartüran (vo) , ( ♀ ) jimartüran (vo)
Welsh: merthyr (cy) m
Zazaki: şehid
one who sacrifices their life for an important cause
one who suffers greatly, even involuntarily
Translations to be checked
Verb
martyr (third-person singular simple present martyrs , present participle martyring , simple past and past participle martyred )
( transitive ) To make someone into a martyr by putting them to death for adhering to, or acting in accordance with, some belief, especially religious; to sacrifice on account of faith or profession.
( transitive ) To persecute .
Some religious and other minorities were martyred until extinction.
( transitive ) To torment ; to torture .
c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus ”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio ), London: Isaac Iaggard , and Ed Blount , published 1623 , →OCLC , :Hark, wretches, how I mean to martyr you. This one hand yet is left to cut your throats,Whiles that Lavinia ’tween her stumps doth hold The basin that receives your guilty blood.
1596 , Edmund Spenser , “Book IIII, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. , part II (books IV–VI), London: [Richard Field ] for William Ponsonby , →OCLC , stanza 2, page 94 :[ …] The louely Amoret , whoſe gentle hart Thou martyreſt with ſorow and with ſmart, [ …]
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
References
Danish
Etymology
From Old Danish martir . Borrowed via Ecclesiastical Latin martyr from Ancient Greek μάρτυς ( mártus , “ witness ” ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
martyr c (singular definite martyren , plural indefinite martyrer )
martyr
Declension
References
French
Etymology
Inherited from Old French martire , borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin martyr , from Ancient Greek μάρτυρ ( mártur ) , later form of μάρτυς ( mártus , “ witness ” ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
martyr m (plural martyrs , feminine martyre )
martyr
Further reading
Latin
Etymology
From Ancient Greek μάρτυρ ( mártur ) , later form of μάρτυς ( mártus , “ witness ” ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
martyr m or f (genitive martyris ) ; third declension
( Ecclesiastical Latin ) martyr , especially a Christian martyr
Declension
Third-declension noun.
Descendants
References
Norman
Etymology
From Ecclesiastical Latin martyr , from Ancient Greek μάρτυρ ( mártur ) , later form of μάρτυς ( mártus , “ witness ” ) .
Noun
martyr m (plural martyrs )
( religion ) martyr
Norwegian Bokmål
Etymology
Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin martyr , from Ancient Greek μάρτυρ ( mártur ) , later form of μάρτυς ( mártus , “ witness ” ) .
Noun
martyr m (definite singular martyren , indefinite plural martyrer , definite plural martyrene )
martyr
References
Norwegian Nynorsk
Etymology
Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin martyr , from Ancient Greek μάρτυρ ( mártur ) , later form of μάρτυς ( mártus , “ witness ” ) .
Noun
martyr m (definite singular martyren , indefinite plural martyrar , definite plural martyrane )
martyr
References
Old English
Etymology
Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin martyr , from Ancient Greek μάρτυρ ( mártur ) , later form of μάρτυς ( mártus , “ witness ” ) .
Noun
martyr m
martyr
late 10th century , Ælfric , Lives of Saints
Þā sē hālga martyr mid þām Hālgan Gāst āfylled smearcode mid mūþe and tō þām mānfullan cwæþ "Ūs ġedafenaþ tō offriġenne þām undēadlīċum gode." Then the holy martyr , filled with the Holy Spirit, smiled with his mouth and to the evil man said "It benefits us to sacrifice to the immortal God."
Declension
Strong a -stem:
Derived terms
References
Swedish
Etymology
Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin martyr , from Ancient Greek μάρτυρ ( mártur ) , later form of μάρτυς ( mártus , “ witness ” ) .
Pronunciation
Noun
martyr c
martyr
Declension
Further reading