martyrn.
/ˈmɑːtə/, U.S. /ˈmɑrdər/ 1. † b. ironic. A person who dies in an evil cause, or in a cause perceived as opposed to right. Usually with modifying word, as Devil's, etc. Obsolete.
a. Christian Church. A person who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce faith in Christ or obedience to his teachings, a Christian way of life, or adherence to a law or tenet of the Church; (also) a person who chooses to suffer death rather than renounce the beliefs or tenets of a particular Christian denomination, sect, etc.Formerly (as in quots. 1661, a1684) applied to Charles I by those members of the Anglican Church who regarded his execution in 1649 as an act of religious persecution; cf. martyr-king n. at Compounds 2.In the Roman Catholic liturgy martyrs rank before all other saints.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > martyrdom > [noun] > one who undergoes
martyrOE
witness1382
sufferer1722
OE tr. Bede Eccl. Hist. (Otho) v. Concl. 484 Lifes boc & þrowunge Sancte Anastase martyr.
OE Menologium 69 Sculan we hwæðere gyt martira gemynd ma areccan.
?a1160 Anglo-Saxon Chron. (Laud) (Peterborough contin.) anno 1137 Ne uuæren næure nan martyrs swa pined also hi wæron.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 30 Þe reade limpeð to þeo þe beoð for godes luue wið hare blod schedunge irudet & ireadet as þe martirs weren.
?a1400 (a1338) R. Mannyng Chron. (Petyt) ii. 35 He gate of hir S. Edward, þat is þe martere.
c1400 J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 489 Seint Steven is a gloriouse martire.
c1450 (a1425) Metrical Paraphr. Old Test. (Selden) 18248 (MED) And holy chyrch hath þem cananyst als marters euer more forto be meyn.
1529 T. More Dialogue Heresyes i, in Wks. 134/2 I thanke god & his holy marter, I can se nowe as well as any man.
1586 G. Pettie & B. Yong tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (rev. ed.) iv. f. 218v If I had not giuen credence to that Prouerbe, That it is better to bee a Martyr than a Confessour.
1611 Bible (King James) Acts xxii. 20 When ye blood of thy martyr [other versions witness; L. testis] Steuen was shed.
1653 A. Ross Πανσεβεια xii. 403 Barrowists, so called from Barrow, their first Martyr.
1661 G. Bate Lives Actors Murder Charles I 143 If ever King of England went to Heaven, our Glorious Martyr King Charles did.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1672 (1955) III. 604 K. Charles our Martyr.
1704 R. Nelson Compan. Festivals & Fasts i. xvii. 184 It was necessary to resist unto Blood to acquire the glorious privilege of a Martyr.
1750 J. Mayhew Disc. Submission 41 Those of the episcopal clergy..continue to speak of this unhappy man as a great saint and a martyr.
1789 J. Bentham Introd. Princ. Morals & Legisl. x. p. cxxiii The sufferings of uncalled martyrs, the calamities of..religious persecutions..are so many additional mischiefs.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary I. vii. 160 They were..something in the situation of the martyrs of the early church..exposed by heathen tyrants to be slain by wild beasts.
1850 A. Jameson Legends Monastic Orders 104 I am not sure that the title of martyr properly belongs to St. Edward, for his death was not voluntary, nor from any religious cause.
1872 ‘M. Twain’ Roughing It App. A. 573 Many succumbed and died—martyrs, fair and true, whatever else they might have been.
1909 E. H. Burton Life Bp. Challoner I. ii. 12 The last of the Douay martyrs..had suffered but one year previously. Some of the priests living at Douay would have known this martyr personally.
1963 M. L. King Strength to Love x. 79 He was put to death..as a martyr for Christ in Rome.
1997 J. Bowker World Relig. 149/2 Until recently, Christians were victimised in Communist regimes and it is possible that there have been more martyrs in the 20th century than in any other.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > goodness and badness > badness or evil > evil action > [noun] > sufferer because of
martyr1340
society > faith > worship > martyrdom > [noun] > one who undergoes > in evil cause
martyr1340
1340 Ayenbite (1866) 53 (MED) Þo þet libbeþ be ypocrisye, þet byeþ, þe dyeules martires.
?c1430 (c1400) J. Wyclif Eng. Wks. (1880) 211 Sathanas children & marteris of glotonye.
a1500 (?1382) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 171 (MED) What mede were it to feden and norischen þus Anticrist martres!
1577 T. Vautrollier tr. M. Luther Comm. Epist. to Galathians (new ed.) f. 234 The doers of the lawe..are rightly called the Deuils martyrs. They take more paynes..in purchasing hell..then the Martyrs of Christ doe in obtaining heauen.
1653 H. Cogan tr. F. M. Pinto Voy. & Adventures xxxvii. 247 This action of theirs brought these Martyrs of the Divell into the Number of the Saints.
1660 R. Allestree Gentlemans Calling Pref. sig. a4v Venus and Bacchus..had many more Martyrs, then God and Loyalty.
1751 S. Richardson Clarissa (ed. 3) IV. xxiv. 121 He who perishes in needless dangers, is the Devil's Martyr.
1841 Ld. Houghton One Tract More 10 Melancthon mentions that the German Lutherans named those that had suffered for the reformed cause in England, the Devil's Martyrs.
2. † b. A person who suffers as a victim to (also by) something to the point of death. Obsolete.
a. In extended (esp. non-religious) contexts: a person who undergoes death or great suffering for a faith, belief, or cause, or (usually with to; also with of, for) through devotion to some object.In quot. 1667 used of a ship; N.E.D. (1905) states ‘The events of the Reformation period caused the word to be popularly associated esp. with death by fire.’
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > martyrdom > [noun] > one who undergoes > who undergoes death or great suffering
martyr1600
OE Ælfric Homily (Corpus Cambr. 188) in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 36 Þa clænan..þe dæghwamlice campiað wið ða ungesewenlican and ða swicolan fynd and wið unlustas..beoð Cristes martyras þurh ða munuclican drohtnunge, na æne gemartirode, ac oft digollice.
a1425 (c1385) G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde (1987) iv. 623 Lat nat this wrecched wo thyn herte gnawe..And if thou deye a martyr, go to hevene!
c1440 (?a1400) Morte Arthure 1066 (MED) Because that þow killide has þise cresmede childyre, Thow has marters made and broghte oute of lyfe.
c1450 in E. P. Hammond Eng. Verse between Chaucer & Surrey (1927) 213 And rad also ful often in my contemplatyff medytacons The holy legende of Martyrs of Cupydo.
1557 Earl of Surrey et al. Songes & Sonettes sig. Z.iiiiv In nothing els had he delight, But euen to be a martyr right.
1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 iv. i. 191 Were our royal faiths martires [1623 Martyrs] in loue. View more context for this quotation
1601 R. Chester (title) Loves martyr, or, Rosalins complaint.
a1656 Bp. J. Hall Invisible World (1659) ii. i. 81 That heathen Martyr, Socrates.
1667 J. Dryden Annus Mirabilis 1666 cii. 26 And burning ships, the Martyrs of the fight, With paler fires beheld the Eastern sky.
1695 W. Congreve Love for Love i. i. 4 Who would die a Martyr to Sense in a Country where the Religion is Folly?
1715 D. Defoe Family Instructor I. i. iv. 107 You are like to be a Martyr in the worst Cause that ever Saint suffered in.
1737 A. Pope Epist. of Horace i. i. 151 The Fool whose Wife elopes some thrice a quarter, For matrimonial Solace dies a martyr.
1777 R. Watson Hist. Reign Philip II II. xv. 69 His father had died a martyr for that cause, which he now wanted so basely to betray.
1793 E. Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 185 That patience and fortitude..which distinguished the martyrs of your family in their last calamitous struggle.
1825 Lancet 8 Oct. 43/2 That muscle is found in the eye, the common anatomical martyr of that age.
1863 Chem. News 14 Feb. 84/1 (heading) A Martyr to Science.
1881 Calcutta Rev. 77 74 The martyrs of the new Indian religion, known by the Musalman name shahid, were to have their exceeding great reward in a future state.
1909 Westm. Gaz. 4 Feb. 5/2 The martyrs were transported for seven years in 1834 because they formed a friendly society.
1962 Flight Internat. 82 464/2 A martyr to the comsat cause.
1990 G. G. Liddy Monkey Handlers xix. 317 It was a tenet of Islamic faith that anyone who died in a jihad would, as a martyr, earn admission to Paradise.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [noun] > victim of
martyr1646
the world > action or operation > adversity > [noun] > tribulation, trouble, or affliction > wretched person > a victim or one sacrificed for any reason > of something voluntarily undertaken
martyr1646
victim1744
1646 J. Shirley Poems 4 Choose to love me, or deny, I will not be so fond to die A Martyr to thy cruelty.
1694 New Bill in Reply to Ladies & Batchelors Petition 2 How can any man..believe that ten thousand Green-sickness Maidens..would rather dye Martyrs to Oatmeal, Loam and Chalk than accept..Matrimony?
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. ii. ix. 148 If the Number of those who recover by Physic could be opposed to that of the Martyrs to it, the former would rather exceed the latter. View more context for this quotation
1792 S. Rogers Pleasures Mem. i. 286 [He] sinks a martyr to repentant sighs.
1804 M. Edgeworth Murad iv, in Pop. Tales II. 280 Murad..died a martyr to the immoderate use of opium.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe II. x. 180 Our founders..forswore every delight of life for the pleasure of dying martyrs by hunger, by thirst, and by pestilence.
3. A person who bears witness for a belief, esp. the Christian faith. Cf. witness n. 8a. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > worship > martyrdom > [noun] > one who undergoes > in etymological sense
martyrc1225
c1225 Worcester Glosses to Old Eng. Homilies in Anglia (1928) 52 22 Cyðere : martir.
1596 E. Coote Eng. Schoole-maister 86/2 Martyr, witnes.
1642 J. Milton Apol. Smectymnuus 39 These opening the prisons and dungeons cal'd out of darknesse and bonds, the elect Martyrs and witnesses of their Redeemer.
1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xlii. 272 Nor is it the Death of the Witnesse, but the Testimony it self that makes the Martyr: for the word signifieth nothing else, but the man that beareth Witnesse.
a1677 I. Barrow Of Contentm. (1685) 151 Having such a cloud of Martyrs [Hebrews 12:1].
1993 Episcopal Life Sept. 20/1 In the 21st-century church, martyrs will be those who live their lives in ways that would not make sense if God did not exist.
4. Hyperbolically or humorously.
a. A person who suffers, or behaves as if suffering, acute or extended pain, unhappiness, emotional torment, etc.; a constant sufferer (to an ailment, etc.). Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > suffering > [noun] > sufferer > constant sufferer
martyr1847
1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) xvi. 12 To lufe & serf his lady bricht, And want hir syne, As I do, martir day and nyt.
1652 E. Benlowes Theophila iv. xlvi. 58 How in Loves torrid Zone thy sweltring Martyr stews.
1684 T. Southerne Disappointment ii. i. 18 Alphonso's Wife, That suffering Martyr to a wedded Life.
1729 A. Pope Dunciad (new ed.) i. 244 (note) He may justly be called a Martyr to obesity.
1796 Duke of Rutland Jrnl. 28 July in Tour N. Parts Great Brit. (1813) 46 The late proprietor.., a martyr to the gout and palsy.
1841 I. Knox Let. 31 Jan. in A. E. Blake Mem. Vanished Generation (1909) v. 127 Lady Jane has been in great anxiety about her dog Coquette, who has been a martyr to rheumatism.
1847 F. A. Kemble in Rec. Later Life (1882) III. 186 She is a martyr to dyspepsia and bad cooking.
1892 Law Times 92 160/1 The deceased..had been a martyr for years to rheumatic gout.
1922 ‘R. Crompton’ Just—William vi. 118 She broke off with the sigh of a patient martyr as William came in.
1979 P. Mortimer About Time vi. 104 She was kind, cheerful,..and became, I was told, a martyr to rheumatism.
1988 New Scientist 22 Oct. 67/1 A lot of famous names are cited as martyrs to the creative malady.
b. to make a martyr of: to subject to hardship or inconvenience; to sacrifice (someone) in a cause; to make a martyr of oneself: to make a real or pretended sacrifice of one's inclinations in order to gain credit.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > adversity > suffer (adversity or affliction) [verb (transitive)] > afflict
overharryeOE
aileOE
swencheOE
besetOE
traya1000
teenOE
to work (also do) (a person) woeOE
derve?c1225
grieve1297
harrya1300
noyc1300
travailc1300
to work (also do) annoyc1300
wrath14..
aggrievea1325
annoya1325
tribula1325
to hold wakenc1330
anguish1340
distrainc1374
wrap1380
strain1382
ermec1386
afflicta1393
cumbera1400
assayc1400
distressc1400
temptc1400
encumber1413
labour1437
infortune?a1439
stressa1450
trouble1489
arraya1500
constraina1500
attempt1525
misease1530
exercise1531
to hold or keep waking1533
try1539
to wring to the worse1542
pinch1548
affligec1550
trounce1551
oppress1555
inflict1566
overharl1570
strait1579
to make a martyr of1599
straiten1611
tribulatea1637
to put through the hoop(s)1919
snooter1923
the mind > emotion > suffering > cause of mental pain or suffering > cause mental pain or suffering to [verb (transitive)] > subject to
putc1390
to make a martyr of1599
society > morality > virtue > morally elevated quality > unselfishness > be unselfish [verb (intransitive)] > make sacrifice of one's inclinations
self-sacrifice1853
to make a martyr of oneself1882
1599 Hist. Syr Clyomon & Clamydes sig. E4 He euen meanes to make a martris [sic; perh. meant as an illiterate blunder] of poore Shift his man.
1761 L. Sterne Life Tristram Shandy III. xxxviii. 185 At my very baptism made a martyr of.
1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe II. xiii. 228 By the scallop-shell of Compostella, I will make a martyr of him.
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ in J. W. Cross George Eliot's Life (1886) III. 159 Mr. Lewes makes a martyr of himself in writing all my notes and business letters. Is not that being a sublime husband?
1878 T. Hardy Return of Native III. v. iii. 136 That would be making a martyr of you, and sending you to where she is; and I would keep you away from her..if I could.
1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal I. iv. 111 You shall not make a martyr of yourself for my sake.
1989 C. Hiaasen Skin Tight (1990) xix. 209 The Stranahan move had backfired, and nearly made a news-industry martyr of Christina Marks.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive.† martyr conduct n. Obsolete rare† martyr task n. Obsolete
martyr bishop n.
ΚΠ
1648 Ignoramus his Conviction sig. A3v These famous worthies who first reformed this Church, (some of them after that proving Martyr-Bishops) [etc.].
1743 J. Brown Honour 21 See martyr-bishops at the stake expire, Smile on the faggot, and defy its fire!
1833 J. B. Marsden Hist. Early Puritans 9 The martyr-bishop Hooper.
1978 Renaissance Q. 37 471 San Cecilio, the (apocryphal) martyr bishop of Illiberis.
martyr-cell n.
ΚΠ
1855 R. Montgomery Sanctuary 259 Were we summon'd to the martyr-cell Would not the type of Demas warn us well?
1860 W. H. Ainsworth Ovingdean Grange 242 Dulcia may be..placed..in the martyr-cells beneath the White-Hart.
ΚΠ
1831 T. Carlyle Characteristics in Misc. (1857) III. 17 Heroic martyr Conduct.
martyr death n.
ΚΠ
1798 W. Sotheby tr. C. M. Wieland Oberon x. xvi. 337 Huon with lingering martyr-death decays.
1876 Ladies' Repository Jan. 5/2 A halo of glory surrounds the crowned head of the virgin princess..while an arrow represents the martyr-death.
1970 Amer. Lit. 41 550 The lion here forbodes Lazarus's martyr death.
martyr fire n.
ΚΠ
1849 C. Stovel Canne's Necessitie of Separation Introd. p. l Meeting..round the martyr-fires which consumed their brethren.
1878 Princeton Rev. 1 458 A well-informed student may see as through a lattice the Roman conflagration A.D. 64..and unnumbered martyr fires.
martyr flame n.
ΚΠ
1683 J. Oldham Poems & Transl. 170 Who'l not laugh to see th' immortal Name To vile Mundungus made a Martyr Flame?
1830 Ld. Tennyson Clear-headed Friend ii Nor martyr-flames, nor trenchant swords Can do away that ancient lie.
1898 Catholic World Oct. 50 ‘Annealed in martyr flames’, the white-robed monk shines beautifully grand and true, but cui bono?
martyr-habit n.
ΚΠ
1902 W. James Varieties Relig. Experience iv. 98 The ‘misery-habit’, the ‘martyr-habit’, engendered by the prevalent ‘fearthought’.
martyr-hero n.
ΚΠ
1776 W. J. Mickle tr. L. de Camoens Lusiad viii. 326 Smiling in death the martyr-hero lies, And lo, his soul triumphant mounts the skies.
1906 Mod. Lang. Notes 21 184 His [sc. Corneille's] introduction of martyr heroes into the tragedy.
1983 M. Poole in Listener 3 Feb. 33/2 He turned Graham Greene's whisky-priest into a martyr-hero.
martyr legend n.
ΚΠ
1902 W. M. Ramsay in Expositor Oct. 284 A good example of the way in which martyr-legends grew round a really historical name.
1935 ELH 2 263 Certain details inherent in a martyr legend would be equally available to the two playwrights.
martyr-maid n.
ΚΠ
1844 I. Williams Baptistery II. iv. 127 That famed Antioch's martyr-maid.
1854 F. T. Palgrave Idyls & Songs xxiii. 59 For one last gaze their Angel eyes Are bow'd upon the martyr-maid.
martyr-master n.
ΚΠ
1876 G. M. Hopkins Wreck of Deutschland xxi, in Poems (1967) 58 Thy unchancelling poising palms were weighing the worth, Thou martyr-master.
martyr poet n.
ΚΠ
c1862 E. Dickinson Poems (1955) II. 417 The Martyr Poets—did not tell—But wrought their Pang in syllable.
martyr president n.
ΚΠ
1865 N. Judd Let. 27 Apr. in Assassination A. Lincoln (U.S. Dept. of State) (1867) 642 Expressions of horror..mingled with fervent wishes that you may recover and survive the terrible affliction, are on the lips of all..who see in you [sc. William Seward, Secretary of State] the trusted friend and counsellor of our martyr President.
1883 Cent. Mag. July 328/1 One [town] called Garfield, in honour of the martyr president.
1908 L. H. Dawson Nicknames & Pseudonyms 195 Martyr President.., Abraham Lincoln.
1965 F. L. Utley in J. B. Bessinger & R. P. Creed Medieval & Linguistic Stud. 308 If I don't go down into history as the martyr President I miss my guess.
martyr prophet n.
ΚΠ
1651–3 Bp. J. Taylor Serm. for Year II. iv. 43 The monuments of the Martyr Prophets.
2003 Re: Eucharist's Jewish—not Pagan—Connections! in alt.bible (Usenet newsgroup) 23 Feb. This does not make the Jewish martyr-prophet a ‘dying/resurrecting god of the pagan Mediterranean’.
martyr-saint n.
ΚΠ
1718 N. Amhurst tr. J. Addison Resurrection (ed. 2) 8 Each Martyr-Saint in Glory shines confest, Immortal Pleasures rushing to his Breast.
1961 Amer. Q. 13 204 The ideals of toleration expressed in the Utopia and other writings of the martyr-saint.
1965 J. E. Cross in Eng. Stud. Apr. 93 Byrhtnoth could have become a martyr-saint.
martyr-spasm n. rare
ΚΠ
1916 E. Blunden Harbingers 66 Marble writhed to martyr-spasm.
martyr spirit n.
ΚΠ
1817 F. D. Hemans Mod. Greece 22 The martyr-spirit of resolve was fled.
1898 J. W. Howe From Sunset Ridge 132 Deliverance dearly bought By martyr spirits that could waste and burn With pangs enforced, our liberties to earn.
1953 Jrnl. Negro Hist. 38 238 Miss Wolf identifies the martyr spirit of the early abolitionists with the humanitarianism of John Wesley and Jonathon Edwards.
martyr stake n.
ΚΠ
1621 M. Wroth Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania 528 That place he first beheld her in, his byding he doth make: The Tree his liberty did win, He cals his Martyr stake.
1798 W. Sotheby tr. C. M. Wieland Oberon xii. lvi. 421 Already stand before the martyr-stake, The pair that perish for each others sake.
1898 J. W. Howe From Sunset Ridge 79 Here lies thy virgin forehead rolled in dust Beside the martyr stake or hero cross.
ΚΠ
1823 F. D. Hemans Last Constantine xix, in Siege of Valencia 12 Some high martyr-task.
1857 J. W. Howe Words for Hour 30 How shall we greet thee when thy task is o'er, Thy martyr task of weariness and pain.
martyr train n.
ΚΠ
a1820 J. Woodhouse Life Crispinus Scriblerus viii. in Life & Poet. Wks. (1896) I. 153/2 The Martyr train, For Spurning Sin despis'd.
1827 J. Keble Christian Year I. x. 36 Their palms and garlands telling plain That they are of the glorious martyr train.
martyr zeal n.
ΚΠ
1805 R. Southey Madoc ii. xv. 328 Her Priests..fought with martyr zeal.
1828 T. Carlyle Werner in Foreign Rev. 1 133 It is the worst of all his pieces..: there is no passion or interest, but a certain woestruck martyr zeal.
1897 Amer. Jrnl. Sociol. 2 880 We feel that selfishness may be partly corrected by eloquent portraiture of heroic virtue and martyr zeal.
b. Objective.
(a) † martyr-queller n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1532 T. More Confut. Tyndale in Wks. 352/1 Murtherers & martyr quellers.
(b)
martyr-slaying adj.
ΚΠ
1826 E. Irving Babylon I. iii. 189 This new martyr-slaying power.
C2.
martyr complex n. a desire to sacrifice oneself for others and to have the sacrifice recognized.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [noun] > other mental illnesses
neurosis1783
mutism1824
Americanitis1882
lata1884
miryachit1884
negativism1892
obsession1892
ressentiment1896
resentment1899
pseudologia1903
echopraxia1904
complex1907
pseudo-homosexuality1908
regression1910
kleptolagnia1917
sadomasochism1919
poriomania1921
superiority complex1921
martyr complex1926
rejection1931
nemesism1938
acting out1945
catathymia1949
elective mutism1950
psychosyndrome1965
panic attack1966
Munchausen syndrome by proxy1977
Polle syndrome1977
panic disorder1978
chronic factitious disorder1980
bigorexia1985
fabricated or induced illness1994
selective mutism1999
1926 Amer. Mercury Mar. 320/2 Gentiles were delirious with triumph and the Mormon martyr-complex was strengthened a thousand-fold.
1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Jan. 58/4 In Rachel, we are asked to believe they fix a ‘martyr-complex’, or give her a taste for unnecessary self-sacrifice.
1994 Rev. in Amer. Hist. 22 338 Creationist complaints about discrimination..are rooted more in a martyr complex than in fact.
martyr-king n. a king killed defending the Christian faith or executed for his religious beliefs; spec. Charles I (1600–49), believed by some members of the Anglican Church to have been executed for religious reasons.
ΚΠ
1649 Sc. Souldiers Lament. 19 This blessed Martyr-King, the breath o four Nostrills, the Anointed of the Lord, was taken in their Pits.
1713 A. Pope Windsor-Forest 14 Here o'er the Martyr-King the Marble weeps.
1870 E. C. Brewer Dict. Phrase & Fable 558/2 The Martyr King, Charles I. of England, beheaded January 30th, 1649.
1908 L. H. Dawson Nicknames & Pseudonyms 194 Martyr King.., Charles i..King of England.
1993 Dict. National Biogr.: Missing Persons 11/1 These pictures illustrate the life, passion, and posthumous miracles of the martyr-king Edmund (841–870).
martyr-maker n. a person who creates martyrs; spec. (an epithet applied to) the martyrologist John Foxe (1517–87) (derogatory).
ΚΠ
1613 in M. C. Questier Newslett. Archpresbyterate G. Birkhead (1998) 228 Everye one particuler laye man though Iesuited never soe muche maye not bee a Martyrmaker for the sente of the gunpowder is soe stronge in many mens noses that theye will not woorshipp suche saincts.
1826 W. E. Andrews Exam. Fox's Cal. Protestant Saints 413 The martyr-maker appears to have been unacquainted with their christian names.
1889 Dict. National Biogr. XX. 130/1 He has been frequently confounded with John Foxe..the ‘martyr-maker’.
?1964 (title) The Communist martyr makers; the account of the struggle for free trade unionism in British Guiana in 1964.
martyrman n. rare = martyr-maker n.
ΚΠ
1824 W. Cobbett Hist. Protestant Reformation xvi. §470 The ‘pious young Saint Edward’, as Fox, the Martyrman, most impiously calls him.
martyr-vase n. Archaeology rare a vessel in which relics of a martyr are preserved.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > disposal of corpse > receptacle for remains > [noun] > martyr-vase
martyr-vase1846
1846 C. Maitland Church in Catacombs 147 Between the heathen lacrymatory and the so-called martyr-vase there exists no well defined difference.
Derivatives
ˈmartyr-like adv. and adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > resolution or determination > [adverb]
strongeOE
fastOE
stably1297
strengthlya1400
unabasedlyc1425
unfaintlyc1425
four-squarec1430
strengthilyc1485
determinedlyc1540
resolutely1549
determinately1556
martyr-like1579
resolvedly1587
strongly1591
undauntedly1598
heart and soul1620
fairly and squarely1628
bently1645
decisively1653
supportinglya1664
setly1673
decidedly1770
martyrly1819
immitigably1824
staunchly1825
unshrinkingly1826
unflinchingly1833
hell-bent1863
square1867
fair and square1870
full-bloodedly1898
1579 E. Hake Newes out of Powles Churchyarde newly Renued vi. sig. Fiijv Martyrlyke he lost his head.
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Martyrement, Martyr like.
1709 R. Gould Wks. I. 231 His Cheeks no more their Rosie Hue retain, Yet, Martyr-like, he never groan'd at Pain.
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre III. vi. 137 She would withdraw her hand hastily from his, and turn in transient petulance from his aspect, at once so heroic and so martyr-like.
1991 G. Edwards Living Magically 64 If any of these beliefs raise a martyr-like sigh..from you, then you're clinging to scarcity beliefs—and your life will reflect this.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
martyrv.
/ˈmɑːtə/, U.S. /ˈmɑrdər/ 1. † b. transitive. To kill, esp. cruelly or violently. Also with down. Obsolete.
a. transitive. To put to death as a martyr.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > killing > kill [verb (transitive)]
swevec725
quelmeOE
slayc893
quelleOE
of-falleOE
ofslayeOE
aquellc950
ayeteeOE
spillc950
beliveOE
to bring (also do) of (one's) life-dayOE
fordoa1000
forfarea1000
asweveOE
drepeOE
forleseOE
martyrOE
to do (also i-do, draw) of lifeOE
bringc1175
off-quellc1175
quenchc1175
forswelta1225
adeadc1225
to bring of daysc1225
to do to deathc1225
to draw (a person) to deathc1225
murder?c1225
aslayc1275
forferec1275
to lay to ground, to earth (Sc. at eird)c1275
martyrc1300
strangle1303
destroya1325
misdoa1325
killc1330
tailc1330
to take the life of (also fro)c1330
enda1340
to kill to (into, unto) death1362
brittena1375
deadc1374
to ding to deathc1380
mortifya1382
perisha1387
to dight to death1393
colea1400
fella1400
kill out (away, down, up)a1400
to slay up or downa1400
swelta1400
voida1400
deliverc1400
starvec1425
jugylc1440
morta1450
to bring to, on, or upon (one's) bierc1480
to put offc1485
to-slaya1500
to make away with1502
to put (a person or thing) to silencec1503
rida1513
to put downa1525
to hang out of the way1528
dispatch?1529
strikea1535
occidea1538
to firk to death, (out) of lifec1540
to fling to deathc1540
extinct1548
to make out of the way1551
to fet offa1556
to cut offc1565
to make away?1566
occise1575
spoil1578
senda1586
to put away1588
exanimate1593
unmortalize1593
speed1594
unlive1594
execute1597
dislive1598
extinguish1598
to lay along1599
to make hence1605
conclude1606
kill off1607
disanimate1609
feeze1609
to smite, stab in, under the fifth rib1611
to kill dead1615
transporta1616
spatch1616
to take off1619
mactate1623
to make meat of1632
to turn up1642
inanimate1647
pop1649
enecate1657
cadaverate1658
expedite1678
to make dog's meat of1679
to make mincemeat of1709
sluice1749
finisha1753
royna1770
still1778
do1780
deaden1807
deathifyc1810
to lay out1829
cool1833
to use up1833
puckeroo1840
to rub out1840
cadaverize1841
to put under the sod1847
suicide1852
outkill1860
to fix1875
to put under1879
corpse1884
stiffen1888
tip1891
to do away with1899
to take out1900
stretch1902
red-light1906
huff1919
to knock rotten1919
skittle1919
liquidate1924
clip1927
to set over1931
creasea1935
ice1941
lose1942
to put to sleep1942
zap1942
hit1955
to take down1967
wax1968
trash1973
ace1975
society > faith > worship > martyrdom > cause martyrdom [verb (transitive)]
martyrOE
amartyrc1300
martyrizec1429
martyrizate?a1475
bemartyra1661
the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > cause of mental anguish or torment > cause anguish to or torment [verb (transitive)]
quelmeOE
eatc1000
martyrOE
fretc1175
woundc1175
to-fret?c1225
gnawc1230
to-traya1250
torment1297
renda1333
anguish1340
grindc1350
wringc1374
debreakc1384
ofpinec1390
rivea1400
urn1488
reboil1528
whip1530
cruciate1532
pinch1548
spur-galla1555
agonize1570
rack1576
cut1582
excruciate1590
scorchc1595
discruciate1596
butcher1597
split1597
torture1598
lacerate1600
harrow1603
hell1614
to eat upa1616
arrow1628
martyrize1652
percruciate1656
tear1666
crucify1702
flay1782
wrench1798
kill1800
to cut up1843
eOE tr. Orosius Hist. (BL Add.) (1980) vi. v. 137 Þæt hie Petrus & Paulus gemartredon.]
OE Old Eng. Martyrol. (Julius) 24 Oct. 238 In oðre birg is seo stow þe he mid his blode gehalgode þa hyne mon martyrode.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1978) 10901 Maximien..martrede seint Alban.
c1325 (c1300) Chron. Robert of Gloucester (Calig.) 1601 He worrede cristendom..& let martri [a1400 Trin. Cambr. martir] seint denis.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) 8924 Þis womman [sc. Maximilla] was þe first men wist Þat martird was for ihesu crist.
c1400 (c1378) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Laud 581) (1869) B. xv. 551 (MED) In sauacion of þe fayth seynt thomas was ymartired.
1480 W. Caxton Chron. Eng. xl. 28 Seynt peter..wente to Rome and was made pope til that Nero the emperour lete hym martren.
1530 Myroure Oure Ladye (Fawkes) (1873) ii. 124 In greate desyre to be martyrde for the loue of oure lorde Iesu cryste.
1592 in J. Morris Troubles Catholic Forefathers (1877) (modernized text) 3rd Ser. iii. 38 1588. Mr Edward James, priest,..having vowed himself into the Society..was conveyed to Horsham, and..was martyred.
1606 J. Hayward Rep. Disc. Supreme Power 47 S. Paul and he were there martyred.
1641 J. Jackson True Evangelical Temper ii. 120 Matthias..was..Martyred by the Axe or Hatchet.
1709 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. 5 Jan. (1886) II. 162 Tyndale was martyr'd at Fylford.
1805 S. J. Pratt Hail Fellow! Well Met! ii. i, in Harvest-home II. 63 This is the boasted freedom, for which..the blameless ruler of the realm was martyred, and his hapless family destroyed.
1886 R. L. Stevenson Kidnapped xx. 196 We took turn about to lie on the naked rock, which was indeed like the position of that saint that was martyred on a gridiron.
1928 Speculum 3 224 A hymn to Saint Eulalia, martyred at Mérida, composed by her compatriot.
1995 Renaissance Q. 48 25 An officer in the Christian militia, he [sc. Saint George] is thought to have been martyred under either Dacian the Persian emperor or the Roman emperor Diocletian.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > killing > kill [verb (transitive)]
swevec725
quelmeOE
slayc893
quelleOE
of-falleOE
ofslayeOE
aquellc950
ayeteeOE
spillc950
beliveOE
to bring (also do) of (one's) life-dayOE
fordoa1000
forfarea1000
asweveOE
drepeOE
forleseOE
martyrOE
to do (also i-do, draw) of lifeOE
bringc1175
off-quellc1175
quenchc1175
forswelta1225
adeadc1225
to bring of daysc1225
to do to deathc1225
to draw (a person) to deathc1225
murder?c1225
aslayc1275
forferec1275
to lay to ground, to earth (Sc. at eird)c1275
martyrc1300
strangle1303
destroya1325
misdoa1325
killc1330
tailc1330
to take the life of (also fro)c1330
enda1340
to kill to (into, unto) death1362
brittena1375
deadc1374
to ding to deathc1380
mortifya1382
perisha1387
to dight to death1393
colea1400
fella1400
kill out (away, down, up)a1400
to slay up or downa1400
swelta1400
voida1400
deliverc1400
starvec1425
jugylc1440
morta1450
to bring to, on, or upon (one's) bierc1480
to put offc1485
to-slaya1500
to make away with1502
to put (a person or thing) to silencec1503
rida1513
to put downa1525
to hang out of the way1528
dispatch?1529
strikea1535
occidea1538
to firk to death, (out) of lifec1540
to fling to deathc1540
extinct1548
to make out of the way1551
to fet offa1556
to cut offc1565
to make away?1566
occise1575
spoil1578
senda1586
to put away1588
exanimate1593
unmortalize1593
speed1594
unlive1594
execute1597
dislive1598
extinguish1598
to lay along1599
to make hence1605
conclude1606
kill off1607
disanimate1609
feeze1609
to smite, stab in, under the fifth rib1611
to kill dead1615
transporta1616
spatch1616
to take off1619
mactate1623
to make meat of1632
to turn up1642
inanimate1647
pop1649
enecate1657
cadaverate1658
expedite1678
to make dog's meat of1679
to make mincemeat of1709
sluice1749
finisha1753
royna1770
still1778
do1780
deaden1807
deathifyc1810
to lay out1829
cool1833
to use up1833
puckeroo1840
to rub out1840
cadaverize1841
to put under the sod1847
suicide1852
outkill1860
to fix1875
to put under1879
corpse1884
stiffen1888
tip1891
to do away with1899
to take out1900
stretch1902
red-light1906
huff1919
to knock rotten1919
skittle1919
liquidate1924
clip1927
to set over1931
creasea1935
ice1941
lose1942
to put to sleep1942
zap1942
hit1955
to take down1967
wax1968
trash1973
ace1975
OE St. Mildred (Calig.) in T. O. Cockayne Leechdoms, Wortcunning, & Starcraft (1866) III. 424 Ongan hine ða biddan þæt he moste þa æþelingas dearnunga acwellan... He ða sona swa dyde swa he ær gyrnende wæs, & he hi on niht sona gemartirode innan ðæs cyninges heahsetle.]
c1300 St. Kenelm (Harl.) 101 in F. J. Furnivall Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 50 (MED) Oure louerd nold noȝt þat he scholde so liȝtliche ymartred beo.
c1450 (?a1400) Wars Alexander (Ashm.) 3644 Þare was þe Medis martird.
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) iv. l. 377 Our kingis men he haldis at gret wnrest Martyris thaim doun.
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 633/1 I martyr a person, I put him to dethe by turmentynge... They have martyred hym amongest them.
c1540 (?a1400) Gest Historiale Destr. Troy 5553 What mighty were marrit & martrid to dethe.
1578 J. Lyly Euphues f. 24v My father shall sooner martir me in the fire then marry me to Philautus.
1693 J. Dryden in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires xiv. Notes 293 He Dy'd a very little Death..being Martyr'd by the fall of a Tyle from a House.
1794 J. Williams Shrove Tuesday 11 When Strathmore's Countess martyrs all her Cats.
c. transitive. In extended use: to cause to die or suffer in defence of or on account of a belief, cause, etc.; (more generally in hyperbolic use) to persecute. Also with for. Occasionally reflexive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > hostile action or attack > make an attack upon [verb (transitive)] > persecute
seekc825
baitc1175
war?c1225
pursuec1300
chase1340
course1466
persecutea1475
suea1500
pickc1550
pursuit1563
prosecute1588
exagitate1602
dragoon1689
harass1788
martyr1851
dragonnade1881
witch-hunt1919
vamp1970
1851 N. Hawthorne House of Seven Gables xiii. 225 Her father..had martyred his poor child to an inordinate desire for measuring his land by miles, instead of acres.
1877 Cassell's Nat. Hist. I. 254 He [sc. an aye-aye] was martyred for science, and its description by Owen will last as long as literature, and its skin and bones as long as the British Museum exists.
1916 F. Lawrence Mem. & Corr. (1961) 211 I saw you being martyred on account of my Hundom.
1925 G. K. Chesterton Everlasting Man ii. i. 207 Being martyred in a languid fashion for telling men they had a duty to their neighbours.
1941 Time 14 Apr. 64/2 He is determined to martyr himself..for the anti-Nazi cause.
1982 Times 14 Aug. 1/2 The court has not attempted to martyr anybody.
1985 H. Brodkey in Vanity Fair (N.Y.) Mar. 82 I am now martyred by carrying on an act of will that once had a..ferocity..to it.
2. † a. transitive. To inflict (usually severe) suffering or pain on; to torment, torture. Obsolete.
ΚΠ
OE Ælfric Homily (Corpus Cambr. 188) in B. Assmann Angelsächsische Homilien u. Heiligenleben (1889) 36 Þa clænan..þe dæghwamlice campiað wið ða ungesewenlican and ða swicolan fynd and wið unlustas..beoð Cristes martyras þurh ða munuclican drohtnunge, na æne gemartirode, ac oft digollice.
a1250 Wohunge ure Lauerd in R. Morris Old Eng. Homilies (1868) 1st Ser. 285 (MED) Lauedi, moder and meiden, Þu..was wiðinne martird i þi moderliche herte.
c1385 G. Chaucer Knight's Tale 1562 Wrecched Palamoun, That Theseus martireth in prisoun.
a1492 W. Caxton tr. Vitas Patrum (1495) i. li. f. ciiiiv/2 Soo moche as they martred him, Soo moche more he louyd theym.
c1515 Ld. Berners tr. Bk. Duke Huon of Burdeux (1882–7) xxvi. 81 I shall so marter thee that thy body shall not endure it.
1596 E. Spenser Second Pt. Faerie Queene iv. vii. sig. F7v The louely Amoret, whose gentle hart Thou martyrest with sorow and with smart. View more context for this quotation
1621 M. Wroth Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania 4 If you be..some furie of purpose sent to vex me, vse your force to the vttermost in martyring me.
1737 A. Pope Epist. of Horace i. vi. 9 Rack'd with Sciatics, martyr'd with the Stone.
1788 Ann. Reg. 1786 Misc. Ess. 125/2 Whalebone and busks, which martyr European girls, they know not.
1860 N. Hawthorne Marble Faun II. xxiv. 263 They must..pelt him and absolutely martyr him with jests.
1893 R. T. Jeffrey Visits to Calvary 116 His blessed body martyred and quivering in its every nerve with aching torture.
b. transitive. To inflict wounds or disfiguring blows on (a person); to mutilate; to torment. Also in extended use. Now Scottish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > maiming or mutilation > maim or mutilate [verb (transitive)]
wemc900
slaya1000
alithOE
hamblea1050
belimbc1225
dismember1297
lamec1300
maimc1325
shearc1330
unablec1380
emblemishc1384
magglec1425
magc1450
demember1491
disablea1492
manglea1500
menyie?a1513
mayhem1533
mutilatec1570
martyr1592
stump1596
bemaim1605
cripplea1616
martyrize1615
deartuate1623
hamstring1641
becripple1660
limb1674
truncate1727
dislimb1855
1592 Countess of Pembroke tr. R. Garnier Antonius ii. sig. I2 Hir faire discouer'd brest..she still martireth with blowes.
a1600 ( W. Stewart tr. H. Boece Bk. Cron. Scotl. (1858) II. 670 [Harold] mareit the duikis dochter of Normondy and..marterit this fair ladie and send [hir] to hir father.
1621 M. Wroth Countesse of Mountgomeries Urania 53 With the flowing of teares, her face was martyred so much, as [etc.].
a1656 J. Ussher Ann. World (1658) 316 Theodotus himself..sorely martyred with wounds.
1880 W. T. Dennison Orcadian Sketch-bk. 102 Hid's better thu s'u'd file the kelter Or he thee flesh an' been's s'u'd merter.
a1907 in Sc. National Dict. (1965) (at cited word) Wir hans wis aa mairtert wi thussles.
3. transitive. To mutilate, spoil (a thing). Now Scottish.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > damage or injure [verb (transitive)]
mareOE
shendOE
hinderc1000
amarOE
awemc1275
noyc1300
touchc1300
bleche1340
blemisha1375
spill1377
misdoa1387
grieve1390
damagea1400
despoil?a1400
matea1400
snapea1400
mankc1400
overthrowa1425
tamec1430
undermine1430
blunder1440
depaira1460
adommage?1473
endamage1477
prejudicec1487
fulyie1488
martyra1500
dyscrase?1504
corrupt1526
mangle1534
danger1538
destroy1542
spoil1563
ruinate1564
ruin1567
wrake1570
injury1579
bane1587
massacre1589
ravish1594
wrong1595
rifle1604
tainta1616
mutilea1618
to do violence toa1625
flaw1665
stun1676
quail1682
maul1694
moil1698
damnify1712
margullie1721
maul1782
buga1790
mux1806
queer1818
batter1840
puckeroo1840
rim-rack1841
pretty1868
garbage1899
savage1899
to do in1905
strafe1915
mash1924
blow1943
nuke1967
mung1969
a1500 (?c1400) Earl of Toulous 1116 in W. H. French & C. B. Hale Middle Eng. Metrical Romances (1930) I. 416 They hewe thorow helme and basenet And martyrd many a mayle.
c1550 Complaynt Scotl. (1979) xx. 145 Thir freuole sophistaris that marthirs and sklandirs the text of aristotel.
a1593 C. Marlowe Edward II (1594) sig. I3v Which fils my mind with strange despairing thoughts, Which..are martyred with endles torments.
1600 R. Surflet tr. C. Estienne & J. Liébault Maison Rustique iii. xxviii. 485 Apples must be gathered..by hand..otherwise the fruite would be much martred.
1614 J. Taylor Nipping of Abuses sig. B3v How pitteous then mans best of wit is martyr'd,..So mingle mangled and so hack't and hewd.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. i. 20 Of such Monuments as were transmitted to Posterity, it is probable most were martyred by the Tyranny of the Pagans.
1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriotaphia: Urne-buriall Ep. Ded. sig. A3v Time hath so martyred the Records, that [etc.].
1853 W. Blair Chrons. Aberbrothock 7 His hoose was a' mertered wi' the dirt that cam doon.
1935 Sc. Notes & Queries 23 Feb. in Sc. National Dict. (at cited word) Th' theeval's got twistet an' mairtl't wi' breuk.
ΚΠ
1646 W. Prynne Canterburies Doome Ep. Ded. sig. a2 The setting forth of this History of his Tryall, will soon Un-martyr, Un-saint, Uncrown this Arch-Imposter.]
1649 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης Pref. sig. B3 Though the Picture sett in Front would Martyr him and Saint him to befoole the people.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.OE
v.OE