martyr

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Middle English, from Old English, itself from Latin martyr, from Ancient Greek μάρτυρ (martyr), later form of μάρτυς (martus, “witness”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: märʹ-tər, IPA: /ˈmɑrtər/, SAMPA: /"mArt@r/
  • (Australia) IPA: [ˈmaː.tə(ɹ)], [ˈmaː.ɾə(ɹ)]
  • (UK) IPA: [ˈmɑː.tə(ɹ)]
  • (US) IPA: [ˈmɑɹ.tɚ], [ˈmɑɹ.ɾɚ]

  • Audio (US)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(r)tə(r)

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 his or her life, station, or what is of great value to him or her, 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.

Synonyms

• shaheed, shahid

Antonyms

• confessor

Derived terms

Derived terms

martyr complex martyrdom martyress martyrial martyrish martyrizate

martyrize martyrizer martyrly martyrolatry martyrless martyrship

Related terms

• martyrion
• martyrium
• martyrologe
• martyrologue
• martyrology
• martyry
• protomartyr

Translations

one willing to be killed for religion (shahid)

Arabic: شهيد (ar) (shahiid) m., شهيدة (ar) (shahiida) f. (plural: شهداء (ar) (shuhadaa') m. pl.) Aramaic: ܣܗܕܐ (sahdah) Armenian: մարտիրոս (hy) (martiros), նահատակ (hy) (nahatak), վկա (hy) (vka) Catalan: màrtir (ca) m. and f. Chinese: Mandarin: 烈士 (cmn) (lièshì), 沙希德 (cmn) (shāxīdé) Czech: mučedník (cs) m. Dutch: martelaar (nl) m., martelares (nl) f. Esperanto: martiro (eo) Estonian: märter (et) Finnish: marttyyri (fi) French: martyr (fr) m., chahîd (fr) m., chahid (fr) m. German: Märtyrer (de) m., Märtyrerin (de) f. Greek: μάρτυρας (el) (mártyras) m. Hebrew: שהיד (he) m. Hindi: शहीद (hi) (šahīd) m., शहीदा (hi) (šahīda) f. Hungarian: mártír (hu), vértanú (hu) Japanese: 殉教者 (ja) (じゅんきょうしゃ, junkyōsha), シャヒード (ja) (shahīdo)

Korean: 순교자 (ko) (sun-gyoja) Norwegian: martyr (no) m. Ottoman Turkish: شهید Persian: شهید (fa) (shahid) Polish: męczennik (pl) m. Romanian: mucenic (ro) Russian: мученик (ru) (múčenik) m., мученица (ru) (múčenica) f., шахид (ru) (šaxíd) m., шахидка (ru) (šaxídka) f. Scottish Gaelic: martair (gd) m. Serbo-Croatian: мученик (sh) m., mučenik (sh) m., шехид (sh) m. (Islam), šehid (sh) m. (Islam) Spanish: mártir (es) m. Swedish: martyr (sv) c. Turkish: şehit (tr), gazi (tr), şehitler (tr) pl., gaziler (tr) pl., mücahit (tr), mücahid (tr) Urdu: شہید (ur) (šahīd) m. Volapük: (male or female) martüran (vo), (male) himartüran (vo), (female) jimartüran (vo) Welsh: merthyr (cy) m.

one who sacrifices their life for an important cause

Armenian: նահատակ (hy) (nahatak) Catalan: màrtir (ca) m. and f. Chinese: Mandarin: 烈士 (cmn) (lièshì) Dutch: martelaar (nl) m. Estonian: märter (et) Finnish: marttyyri (fi) Greek: μάρτυρας (el) (mártyras) m. Hungarian: mártír (hu), vértanú (hu) Japanese: 殉教者 (ja) (じゅんきょうしゃ, junkyōsha)

Norwegian: martyr (no) m. Persian: شهید (fa) (shahid) Polish: męczennik (pl) m. Romanian: martir (ro) Russian: мученик (ru) (múčenik) m., мученица (ru) (múčenica) f. Scottish Gaelic: martair (gd) m. Serbo-Croatian: мученик (sh) m., mučenik (sh) m. Swedish: martyr (sv) c. Turkish: şehit

one who suffers greatly, even involuntarily

Catalan: màrtir (ca) m. and f. Chinese: Mandarin: 受難者 (cmn), 受难者 (cmn) (shòunànzhě) Dutch: martelaar (nl) m. Estonian: märter (et) Finnish: uhri (fi) Greek: μάρτυρας (el) (mártyras) m. Hungarian: mártír (hu)

Japanese: 受難者 (ja) (junansha) Norwegian: martyr (no) m. Russian: мученик (ru) (múčenik) m., мученица (ru) (múčenica) f., страдалец (ru) (stradálec) m., страдалица (ru) (stradálica) f. Scottish Gaelic: martair (gd) m. Swedish: martyr (sv) c. Turkish: mücahit (tr), mücahitler (tr) pl.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

Serbo-Croatian: mučenik m., šehit m. Serbo-Croatian: mučenik (hr) m. French: martyr m., martyre f. German: Märtyrer (de) m. Interlingua: martyr Korean: 순교자 (sun-gyoja) Kurdish: şehîd Norwegian: martyr (no) m. Persian: شهید (šahid)

Portuguese: mártir (pt) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: мученик m. Roman: mučenik m. Spanish: mártir (es) m. Swedish: martyr (sv) Urdu: شہید (šahīd) m. Volapük: martüran

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 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.
2. (transitive) To persecute.

   Some religious and other minorities were martyred until extinction.

3. (transitive) To torment; to torture.

   The lovely Amoret, whose gentle heart

   Thou martyrest with sorrow and with smart. — Spenser

Synonyms

• martyrize

Derived terms

• martyrer

Translations

to make someone a martyr

Finnish: tehdä (jostakin) marttyyri (fi) French: martyriser (fr)

Polish: zadać męczeńską śmierć Romanian: martiriza (ro)

persecute — see persecute

torture — see torture

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Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μάρτυρ (martyr), later form of μάρτυς (martus, “witness”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA: /ˈmar.tʏr/

Noun

martyr (genitive martyris); m f, third declension

1. martyr, especially a Christian martyr

Inflection

Number	Singular	Plural
nominative	martyr	martyrēs
genitive	martyris	martyrum
dative	martyrī	martyribus
accusative	martyrem	martyrēs
ablative	martyre	martyribus
vocative	martyr	martyrēs

Related terms

• martyrium

Descendants

English: martyr French: martyr Italian: martire

Portuguese: mártir Romanian: martor Spanish: mártir

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Norwegian

Etymology

From Latin martyr, from Ancient Greek μάρτυρ (martyr), later form of μάρτυς (martys, “witness”).

Noun

martyr

1. A martyr.

Related terms

• martre
• martyrdød
• martyrium

Inflection

    Inflection of martyr

	indefinite singular	definite singular	indefinite plural	definite plural
Bokmål m	martyr	martyren	martyrer	martyrene
Nynorsk m	martyr	martyren	martyrar	martyrane

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Swedish

Noun

martyr c.

1. a martyr

Declension

Declension of martyr

	singular		plural
Common	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	martyr	martyren	martyrer	martyrerna
genitive	martyrs	martyrens	martyrers	martyrernas

Related terms

• martyrskap