mortal
English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Middle English mortal, mortel, from Old French mortal, and their source Latin mortālis, from mors (“death”). Partly displaced native deadly, from Old English dēadlīċ.
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
mortal (comparative more mortal, superlative most mortal)
- Susceptible to death by aging, sickness, injury, or wound; not immortal. [from 14th c.]
- 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 […]
- Blyndfold he was; and in his cruell fist
- 1817 December, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Revolt of Islam. […]”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, OCLC 1000449192, page 263:
- into the plain
Disgorged at length, the dead and the alive,
In one dread mass, were parted, and the stain
Of blood from mortal steel fell o’er the fields like rain.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.11:
- Punishable by death.
- Fatally vulnerable.
- 1670, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […] , London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , OCLC 946735472:
- Last of all, against himself he turns his sword, but missing the mortal place, with his poniard finishes the work.
- Of or relating to the time of death.
- 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: Printed for J[ohn] Wilford, […], OCLC 960856019:
- Safe in the hand of one disposing Power,
Or in the natal or the mortal hour.
- Affecting as if with power to kill; deathly.
- 1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], OCLC 731548838:
- The nymph grew pale, and in a mortal fright.
- 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.
- mortal enemy
- Human; belonging or pertaining to people who are mortal.
- mortal wit or knowledge; mortal power
- 1667, John Milton, “Book 10”, in Paradise Lost. A Poem Written in Ten Books, London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
- The voice of God
To mortal ear is dreadful.
- 2012, Olivia Gates, Immortal, Insatiable, Indomitable, Harlequin (→ISBN)
- “It's just...I hesitated to call the police. I wasn't sure you'd appreciate their presence.” He sure wouldn't. Mortal scum he could dispatch. Mortal law enforcement he avoided at all costs […]
- Very painful or tedious; wearisome.
- a sermon lasting two mortal hours
- a. 1832, Walter Scott, To Halbert
- (UK, slang) Very drunk; wasted; smashed.
- 1995, Alan Warner, Morvern Callar, Vintage 2015, p. 13:
- Thats[sic] nothing, says Tequila Sheila, who told how the summer she was housemaid in The Saint Columba she took this guy back to the staff flats while mortal on slammers and crashed out on him before anything could happen.
- 1995, Alan Warner, Morvern Callar, Vintage 2015, p. 13:
- (religion) Of a sin: involving the penalty of spiritual death, rather than merely venial.
Synonyms[edit]
Antonyms[edit]
- (susceptible to death): immortal, everlasting
- (of or relating to death): natal, vital
- (causing death): vital
Derived terms[edit]
- mortal combat
- mortal sin
- mortalism
- mortality
- mortalize
- mortally
- mortalness
- shuffle off this mortal coil
Translations[edit]
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Noun[edit]
mortal (plural mortals)
- A human; someone susceptible to death.
- Antonym: immortal
- Her wisdom was beyond that of a mere mortal.
- c. 1595–1596, William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
- Lord what fools these mortals be!
- 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], OCLC 752825175:
- But then I had the flintlock by me for protection.
There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window […].
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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Adverb[edit]
mortal (not comparable)
- (colloquial) Mortally; enough to cause death.
- It's mortal cold out there.
Asturian[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
mortal (epicene, plural mortales)
- mortal (susceptible to death)
- mortal (causing death; deadly; fatal; killing)
- deadly (lethal)
- Synonym: mortíferu
Catalan[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
mortal (masculine and feminine plural mortals)
Related terms[edit]
Noun[edit]
mortal m or f (plural mortals)
Further reading[edit]
- “mortal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “mortal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2022
- “mortal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “mortal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Interlingua[edit]
Adjective[edit]
mortal (not comparable)
- mortal (liable to die)
- Illo es un mortal wombat, illo decomponera etiam.
- mortal (causing death)
- Un mortal wombat attaccava ille.
Related terms[edit]
Italian[edit]
Noun[edit]
mortal m or f (apocopated)
Piedmontese[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
mortal
Portuguese[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Old Portuguese mortal, and their source Latin mortālis, from mors (“death”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
mortal m or f (plural mortais, sometimes comparable)
- (not comparable) susceptible to death; mortal.
- Antonym: imortal
- (comparable) prone to cause death; deadly; lethal; fatal.
Inflection[edit]
singular | plural | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | feminine | masculine | feminine | |
positive | mortal | mortal | mortais | mortais |
comparative | mais mortal | mais mortal | mais mortais | mais mortais |
superlative | o mais mortal mortalíssimo |
a mais mortal mortalíssima |
os mais mortais mortalíssimos |
as mais mortais mortalíssimas |
augmentative | — | — | — | — |
diminutive | — | — | — | — |
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Noun[edit]
mortal m, f (plural mortais)
- a mortal, a human (someone susceptible to death)
- Antonym: imortal
- (gymnastics) a somersault
Further reading[edit]
- “mortal” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.
Romanian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From Latin mortalis or Italian mortale.
Adjective[edit]
mortal m or n (feminine singular mortală, masculine plural mortali, feminine and neuter plural mortale)
Declension[edit]
singular | plural | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
masculine | neuter | feminine | masculine | neuter | feminine | ||
nominative/ accusative |
indefinite | mortal | mortală | mortali | mortale | ||
definite | mortalul | mortala | mortalii | mortalele | |||
genitive/ dative |
indefinite | mortal | mortale | mortali | mortale | ||
definite | mortalului | mortalei | mortalilor | mortalelor |
Spanish[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
mortal (plural mortales)
Derived terms[edit]
Related terms[edit]
Further reading[edit]
- “mortal”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *mer- (die)
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)təl
- Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)təl/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with usage examples
- British English
- English slang
- en:Religion
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English adverbs
- English uncomparable adverbs
- English colloquialisms
- en:Death
- en:People
- Asturian lemmas
- Asturian adjectives
- Catalan terms derived from Latin
- Catalan 2-syllable words
- Catalan terms with IPA pronunciation
- Catalan lemmas
- Catalan adjectives
- Catalan epicene adjectives
- Catalan nouns
- Catalan masculine nouns
- Catalan feminine nouns
- Catalan nouns with multiple genders
- Interlingua lemmas
- Interlingua adjectives
- Italian non-lemma forms
- Italian noun forms
- Italian apocopic forms
- Piedmontese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:Piedmontese/al
- Rhymes:Piedmontese/al/2 syllables
- Piedmontese lemmas
- Piedmontese adjectives
- Portuguese terms inherited from Old Portuguese
- Portuguese terms derived from Old Portuguese
- Portuguese terms derived from Latin
- Portuguese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Portuguese 2-syllable words
- Portuguese terms with homophones
- Rhymes:Portuguese/al
- Rhymes:Portuguese/al/2 syllables
- Rhymes:Portuguese/aw
- Rhymes:Portuguese/aw/2 syllables
- Portuguese lemmas
- Portuguese adjectives
- Portuguese uncomparable adjectives
- Portuguese nouns
- pt:Gymnastics
- Romanian terms borrowed from Latin
- Romanian terms derived from Latin
- Romanian terms borrowed from Italian
- Romanian terms derived from Italian
- Romanian lemmas
- Romanian adjectives
- Spanish terms derived from Latin
- Spanish 2-syllable words
- Spanish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Spanish terms with audio links
- Spanish lemmas
- Spanish adjectives
- es:Death