martyr

mar·tyr

noun

The definition of a martyr is a person who is killed because of his beliefs (especially religious beliefs), or a person who exaggerates his sacrifice to get sympathy.

A religious person who refuses to deny his religion and is killed for it is an example of amartyr.
A person who takes care of his aging parents but who makes sure everyone knows just how difficult it is is an example of amartyr.

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"martyr." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/martyr>.

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martyr. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/martyr

martyr

1. any of those persons who choose to suffer or die rather than give up their faith or principles
2. any person tortured or killed because of his or her beliefs
a person who suffers great pain or misery for a long time
a person who assumes an attitude of self-sacrifice or suffering in order to arouse feelings of pity, guilt, etc. in others

Origin of martyr

Middle English martir from Old English from Ecclesiastical Late Latin from Classical Greek martyr, martys, a witness (LGr(Ec), martyr) from Indo-European base an unverified form (s)mer-, to remember, care from source Classical Latin memor, mindful, Sanskrit smárati, (he) remembers

to put to death or torture for adherence to a belief
to torture; make suffer greatly; persecute

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MLA Style

"martyr." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/martyr>.

APA Style

martyr. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/martyr

martyr

noun

One who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce religious principles.
One who makes great sacrifices or suffers much in order to further a belief, cause, or principle.
a. One who endures great suffering: a martyr to arthritis.
b. One who makes a great show of suffering in order to arouse sympathy.

transitive verb

mar·tyred, mar·tyr·ing, mar·tyrs

To make a martyr of, especially to put to death for devotion to religious beliefs.
To inflict great pain on; torment.

Origin of martyr

Middle English from Old English from Late Latin from Late Greek martur from Greek martus martur- witness

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"martyr." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 14 January 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/martyr>.

APA Style

martyr. (n.d.). Retrieved January 14th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/martyr

Noun

(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 his or her 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.
One who is killed or suffers greatly because of an identity or position, e.g., a young prince killed when his father, the king, is deposed for the purpose of preventing the restoration of the monarchy later.

Related terms

Verb

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

To make someone into a martyr by putting him or her to death for adhering to, or acting in accordance with, some belief, especially religious; to sacrifice on account of faith or profession.
To persecute.
Some religious and other minorities were martyred until extinction.
To torment; to torture.
The lovely Amoret, whose gentle heart
Thou martyrest with sorrow and with smart. "” Spenser

Origin

From Middle English, from Old English, itself from Ecclesiastical Latin martyr, from Ancient Greek Î¼Î¬ÏÏ„Ï…Ï (martyr), later form of Î¼Î¬ÏÏ„Ï…Ï‚ (martus, “witness").

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.