MORTIFY

necrose, gangrene, mortify, sphacelate

(verb) undergo necrosis; “the tissue around the wound necrosed”

humiliate, mortify, chagrin, humble, abase

(verb) cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of; “He humiliated his colleague by criticising him in front of the boss”

mortify, subdue, crucify

(verb) hold within limits and control; “subdue one’s appetites”; “mortify the flesh”

mortify

(verb) practice self-denial of one’s body and appetites

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

mortify (third-person singular simple present mortifies, present participle mortifying, simple past and past participle mortified)

(transitive) To discipline (one's body, appetites etc.) by suppressing desires; to practise abstinence on. [from 15th c.]

(transitive, usually, used passively) To embarrass, to humiliate. To injure one's dignity. [from 17th c.]

(obsolete, transitive) To kill. [14th–17th c.]

(obsolete, transitive) To reduce the potency of; to nullify; to deaden, neutralize. [14th–18th c.]

(obsolete, transitive) To kill off (living tissue etc.); to make necrotic. [15th–18th c.]

(obsolete, transitive) To affect with vexation, chagrin, or humiliation; to humble; to depress.

(transitive, Scotland, legal, historical) To grant in mortmain.

(intransitive) To lose vitality.

(intransitive) To gangrene.

(intransitive) To be subdued.

Synonyms

• (to discipline oneself by suppressing desires): macerate

• (to injure one's dignity): demean, humiliate, shame

Antonyms

• (to injure one's dignity): dignify, honor

Source: Wiktionary


Mor"ti*fy, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Mortified; p. pr. & vb. n. Mortifying.] Etym: [OE. mortifien, F. mortifier, fr. L. mortificare; L. mors, mortis, death + -ficare (in comp.) to make. See Mortal, and -fy.]

1. To destroy the organic texture and vital functions of; to produce gangrene in.

2. To destroy the active powers or essential qualities of; to change by chemical action. [Obs.] Chaucer. Quicksilver is mortified with turpentine. Bacon. He mortified pearls in vinegar. Hakewill.

3. To deaden by religious or other discipline, as the carnal affections, bodily appetites, or worldly desires; to bring into subjection; to abase; to humble. With fasting mortified, worn out with tears. Harte. Mortify thy learned lust. Prior. Mortify, rherefore, your members which are upon the earth. Col. iii. 5.

4. To affect with vexation, chagrin, or humiliation; to humble; to depress. The news of the fatal battle of Worcester, which exceedingly mortified our expectations. Evelyn. How often is the ambitious man mortified with the very praises he receives, if they do not rise so high as he thinks they ought! Addison.

Mor"ti*fy, v. i.

1. To lose vitality and organic structure, as flesh of a living body; to gangrene.

2. To practice penance from religious motives; to deaden desires by religious discipline. This makes him ... give alms of all that he hath, watch, fast, and mortify. Law.

3. To be subdued; to decay, as appetites, desires, etc.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

3 July 2025

SENSE

(noun) the faculty through which the external world is apprehended; “in the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and hearing”


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