MARTYR

martyr, sufferer

(noun) one who suffers for the sake of principle

martyr

(noun) one who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty for refusing to renounce their religion

martyr, martyrize, martyrise

(verb) torture and torment like a martyr

martyr

(verb) kill as a martyr; “Saint Sebastian was martyred”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

martyr (plural martyrs)

One who willingly accepts being put to death for adhering openly to one's religious beliefs; notably, saints canonized after martyrdom.

(by extension) One who sacrifices his or her life, station, or something of great personal value, for the sake of principle or to sustain a cause.

(with a prepositional phrase of cause) One who suffers greatly and/or constantly, even involuntarily.

Synonyms

• shaheed, shahid

Antonyms

• confessor

Verb

martyr (third-person singular simple present martyrs, present participle martyring, simple past and past participle martyred)

(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.

(transitive) To persecute.

(transitive) To torment; to torture.

Synonyms

• martyrize

Source: Wiktionary

Mar"tyr, n. Etym: [AS., from L. martyr, Gr. ma`rtyr, ma`rtys, prop., a witness; cf. Skr. smrs to remember, E. memory.]

1. One who, by his death, bears witness to the truth of the gospel; one who is put to death for his religion; as, Stephen was the first Christian martyr. Chaucer. To be a martyr, signifies only to witness the truth of Christ; but the witnessing of the truth was then so generally attended with persecution, that martyrdom now signifies not only to witness, but to witness by death South.

2. Hence, one who sacrifices his life, his station, or what is of great value to him, for the sake of principle, or to sustain a cause. Then if thou fall'st, O Cromwell, Thou fall'st a blessed martyr ! Shak.

Mar"tyr, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Martyred; p. pr. & vb. n. Martyring.]

1. To put to death for adhering to some belief, esp. Christianity; to sacrifice on account of faith or profession. Bp. Pearson.

2. To persecute; to torment; to torture. Chaucer. The lovely Amoret, whose gentle heart Thou martyrest with sorrow and with smart. Spenser. Racked with sciatics, martyred with the stone. Pope.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition