mortification

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle French mortification, from Old French, from Latin mortificatio.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˌmɔːtɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌmoɹtɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, (weak vowel merger) /-tə-/, /-fə-/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -eɪʃən

Noun[edit]

mortification (countable and uncountable, plural mortifications)

  1. The act of mortifying.
  2. A sensation of extreme shame or embarrassment.
    • 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, V.ii:
      Certainly a little mortification appears very becoming in a wife—don't you think it will do her good to let her Pine a little.
    • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Consent”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. [], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, [], →OCLC, page 152:
      He felt stunned—mortification, sorrow, and anger, mingled together: the past was like a dream, and the future swam indistinctly before him.
    • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter VIII, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
      The humor of my proposition appealed more strongly to Miss Trevor than I had looked for, and from that time forward she became her old self again; for, even after she had conquered her love for the Celebrity, the mortification of having been jilted by him remained.
  3. (medicine) The death of part of the body.
  4. A bringing under of the passions and appetites by a severe or strict manner of living.
  5. (law, Scotland) A bequest to a charitable institution.

Synonyms[edit]

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Translations[edit]

French[edit]

Pronunciation[edit]

Noun[edit]

mortification f (plural mortifications)

  1. mortification

Further reading[edit]