martyr

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English

English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

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)

  1. 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.
  2. (by extension) One who sacrifices their life, station, or something of great personal value, for the sake of principle or to sustain a cause.
  3. (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

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Verb

martyr (third-person singular simple present martyrs, present participle martyring, simple past and past participle martyred)

  1. (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.
  2. (transitive) To persecute.
    Some religious and other minorities were martyred until extinction.
  3. (transitive) To torment; to torture.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 martyr”, in OED Online Paid subscription required, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

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)

  1. 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)

  1. 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

  1. (Ecclesiastical Latin) martyr, especially a Christian martyr

Declension

Third-declension noun.

singular plural
nominative martyr martyrēs
genitive martyris martyrum
dative martyrī martyribus
accusative martyrem martyrēs
ablative martyre martyribus
vocative martyr martyrēs

Descendants

References

Norman

Etymology

From Ecclesiastical Latin martyr, from Ancient Greek μάρτυρ (mártur), later form of μάρτυς (mártus, witness).

Noun

martyr m (plural martyrs)

  1. (religion) martyr

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia no

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)

  1. martyr

References

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia nn

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)

  1. martyr

References

Old English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Borrowed from Ecclesiastical Latin martyr, from Ancient Greek μάρτυρ (mártur), later form of μάρτυς (mártus, witness).

Noun

martyr m

  1. 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

  1. martyr

Declension

Further reading