martyrdom

English

Etymology

From Middle English martyrdome, martirdom, marterdom, from Old English martyrdōm (“martyrdom”), corresponding to martyr +‎ -dom. Cognate with German Märtyrertum (“martyrdom”), Danish martyrdom (“martyrdom”), Swedish martyrdom (“martyrdom”), Norwegian martyrdom (“martyrdom”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈmɑː(ɹ).tə(ɹ).dəm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

martyrdom (countable and uncountable, plural martyrdoms)

1. The condition of a martyr; the death of a martyr; the suffering of death on account of adherence to the Christian faith, or to any cause.
   • 1681, George Hickes, A Sermon Preached before the Lord Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of London:

     The like clamour, and outcry, the Rabble of the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles made againſt Polycarp Biſhop of Smyrna, at the time of his Martyrdom. crying out againſt him to the Governour, that he ſhould caſt him to the Lyons, and when he anſwered them he could not, becauſe the Spectacular ſports were concluded, then they cry’d out, Burn him, burn him, juſt as the Jews cryed out againſt Chriſt to Pilate, Crucify him, crucify him.

   • 1820, [Walter Scott], chapter XIII, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 276:

     “Regard not that, my brother,” answered Magdalen Græme; “the first successors of Saint Peter himself, were elected not in sunshine but in tempests—not in the halls of the Vatican, but in the subterranean vaults and dungeons of Heathen Rome—they were not gratulated with shouts and salvos of cannon-shot and of musquetry, and the display of artificial fire—no, my brother—but by the hoarse summons of Lictors and Prætors, who came to drag the Fathers of the Church to martyrdom. […]”

   • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Age and Youth”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 11:

     The ceiling had been painted with the martyrdom of some saint. Who shall place a bound to human folly, when both the inflicter and the endurer of torture have deemed that pain is acceptable in the sight of God?

   • 1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn, Pt. III:

     The Communists wanted to go on and on, suffering a comfortable martyrdom, meeting with endless defeats and afterwards putting the blame on other people.

2. Extreme suffering, affliction; torment; torture, especially without reason.

Derived terms

• martyrdom video

Translations

condition of a martyr

• Arabic: شَهَادَة (ar) f (šahāda)
• Bulgarian: мъченичество (bg) n (mǎčeničestvo)
• Catalan: martiri (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 殉難／殉难 (zh) (xùnnàn), 殉教 (zh) (xùnjiào), 殉道 (zh) (xùndào)

• Czech: mučednictví n
• Finnish: marttyyrius (fi)
• French: martyre (fr) m
• Georgian: მოწამეობა (moc̣ameoba)
• German: Märtyrertod (de) m
• Greek: μαρτύριο (el) n (martýrio)
• Hindi: शहादत (hi) f (śahādat), शहीदी (hi) f (śahīdī), कुरबानी (hi) f (kurbānī)
• Hungarian: mártíromság (hu), vértanúság (hu)
• Japanese: 殉教 (ja) (じゅんきょう, junkyō)
• Macedonian: мачеништво n (mačeništvo)
• Malayalam: രക്തസാക്ഷിത്വം (raktasākṣitvaṁ), വീരമൃത്യു (ml) (vīramr̥tyu), ആത്മത്യാഗം (ml) (ātmatyāgaṁ)
• Maori: matiratanga
• Ottoman Turkish: شهادت (şehadet)
• Persian: شهادت (fa) (šahâdat)
• Polish: męczeństwo (pl) n
• Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi: ਸ਼ਹਾਦਤ (pa) f (śahādat)

  Shahmukhi: شَہَادَت f (śahādat)

• Russian: му́ченичество (ru) n (múčeničestvo)
• Scottish Gaelic: martarachd f
• Spanish: martirio (es) m
• Swedish: martyrskap (sv) n
• Ukrainian: му́чеництво n (múčenyctvo)
• Urdu: شَہَادَت f (śahādat)
• Volapük: martür (vo), (older word) matür

great suffering

• Catalan: martiri (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 折磨 (zh) (zhémo), 痛苦 (zh) (tòngkǔ), 受苦 (zh) (shòukǔ)

• Czech: mučení n
• Finnish: marttyyrius (fi)
• French: martyre (fr) m
• Greek: μαρτύριο (el) n (martýrio)
• Polish: męka (pl) f
• Russian: мука (ru) f (muka)
• Scottish Gaelic: martarachd f
• Spanish: martirio (es) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• German: ^{(please verify)} Martyrium (de) n
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 순교(殉敎) (ko) (sun'gyo)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} şehitlik (tr), ^{(please verify)} şehadet (tr)

Old English

Etymology

From martyr +‎ -dōm.

Noun

martyrdōm m

1. martyrdom

Declension

Strong a-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	martyrdōm	martyrdōmas
accusative	martyrdōm	martyrdōmas
genitive	martyrdōmes	martyrdōma
dative	martyrdōme	martyrdōmum

Synonyms

• martyrhād

Descendants

• Middle English: martyrdome, martirdom, marterdom
  • English: martyrdom
  • Scots: martirdome

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “martyrdōm”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.