mortal

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman mortal, Middle French mortal, and their source Latin mortālis, from mors (“death”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈmɔːtəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(r)təl

Adjective

mortal (comparative more mortal, superlative most mortal)

1. Susceptible to death by aging, sickness, injury, or wound; not immortal. [from 14th c.]
   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:

     I was in mortal fear lest the captain should repent of his confessions and make an end of me.

2. Causing death; deadly, fatal, killing, lethal (now only of wounds, injuries etc.). [from 14th c.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.11:

     Blyndfold he was; and in his cruell fist / A mortall bow and arrowes keene did hold […].

Antonyms

• immortal

Derived terms

• mortality
• mortal sin

See also

• lethal

Translations

susceptible to death

• Armenian: մահկանացու (hy) (mahkanac’u)
• Asturian: mortal (ast)
• Bashkir: бәндә (bändä)
• Catalan: mortal (ca)
• Cherokee: ᏴᏫ (chr) (yvwi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不免一死 (cmn) (bùmiǎnyīsǐ), 必死的 (cmn) (bìsǐ de)

• Czech: smrtelný (cs) m
• Dutch: sterfelijk (nl)
• Finnish: kuolevainen (fi)
• French: mortel (fr)
• Galician: mortal (gl)
• German: sterblich (de)
• Greek: θνητός (el) (thnitos), θανάσιμος (el) (thanásimos)
  • Ancient Greek βροτός (brotos)
• Hebrew: בשר ודם (he) (basar vadam)
• Hungarian: halálos (hu)

• Icelandic: dauðlegur (is)
• Irish: básmhar (ga)
• Italian: mortale (it)
• Japanese: 死すべき (ja) (しすべき, shisubeki)
• Nahuatl: miquini (nah)
• Occitan: (Provence) mortau (oc)
• Polish: śmiertelny (pl)
• Portuguese: mortal (pt)
• Russian: смертный (ru) (smértnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian: smrtan (sh), zemnik (sh)
• Slovene: smrten (sl)
• Spanish: mortal (es)
• Swedish: dödlig (sv)
• Turkish: ölümlü (tr), fani (tr)
• Volapük: deadöfik (vo)

causing death; deadly; fatal; killing

• Asturian: mortal (ast)
• Catalan: mortal (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 致命 (cmn) (zhìmìng)

• Dutch: dodelijk (nl)
• Galician: mortal (gl)
• German: tödlich (de)

• Japanese: 致死の (ja) (ちしの, chishi no)
• Portuguese: mortal (pt)
• Russian: смертельный (ru) (smertélʹnyj)
• Volapük: deidik (vo), deidölik (vo)

Noun

mortal (plural mortals)

1. A human; someone susceptible to death.
   • 1596, William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream

     Lord what fools these mortals be!

Antonyms

• immortal

Translations

human; someone susceptible to death

• Armenian: մահկանացու (hy) (mahkanac’u)
• Catalan: mortal (ca) m and f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 凡人 (cmn) (fánrén)

• Czech: smrtelník (cs) m
• Dutch: sterveling (nl) m
• French: mortel (fr) m, mortelle (fr) f
• Galician: mortal (gl) m
• German: Sterblicher (de) m, Sterbliche (de) f

• Hungarian: halandó (hu)
• Polish: śmiertelnik (pl) m
• Portuguese: mortal (pt) m and f
• Russian: смертный (ru) (smértnyj) m, смертная (ru) (smértnaja) f
• Serbo-Croatian: smȑtnīk (sh) m, smȑtnica (sh) f
• Slovene: smrtnik (sl) m
• Turkish: ölümlü (tr), fani (tr)
• Volapük: (♂♀) deadöfan (vo), (♂) hideadöfan (vo), (♀) jideadöfan (vo)

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin mortālis.

Adjective

mortal m, f (masculine and feminine plural mortals)

1. mortal
2. deadly, lethal

Antonyms

• (mortal): immortal

Related terms

• mortalitat

Noun

mortal m, f (plural mortals)

1. mortal

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Portuguese

Adjective

mortal m and f (plural mortais; comparable and uncomparable)

1. (not comparable) Susceptible to death; mortal.
2. (comparable) Prone to cause death; deadly; lethal; fatal.

Inflection

  Inflection of the Portuguese adjective mortal

• Adjectives with this inflection include: abdominal, medieval, normal.

	singular		plural
	masculine	feminine	masculine	feminine
positive	mortal		mortais
comparative	mais mortal		mais mortais
superlative	o mais mortal mortalíssimo	a mais mortal mortalíssima	os mais mortais mortalíssimos	as mais mortais mortalíssimas

Antonyms

• imortal

Noun

mortal m and f (plural mortais)

1. A mortal person.

Antonyms

• imortal

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Spanish

Adjective

mortal m and f (plural mortales)

1. deadly
2. mortal

Antonyms

• inmortal

Related terms

• morir
• muerte