martyr

noun mar·tyr \ ˈmär-tər \

|Updated on: 11 Jun 2018

Definition of martyr

1 : a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion

2 : a person who sacrifices something of great value and especially life itself for the sake of principle

a martyr to the cause of freedom

3 : victim; especially : a great or constant sufferer

a martyr to asthma all his life
—A. J. Cronin

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martyrization

play \ˌmär-tə-rə-ˈzā-shən\ noun

—

martyrize

play \ˈmär-tə-ˌrīz\ transitive verb

See martyr defined for English-language learners

See martyr defined for kids

Recent Examples of martyr from the Web

In announcing the investigation, China’s Culture and Tourism Ministry said Jinri Toutiao has allowed a martyr to be portrayed in a negative light.

— liza lin, WSJ, "Comedian’s Jokes Trigger Probe of Popular Chinese App," 1 June 2018
Jon Hale/Courier Journal Brian Bowen makes a lousy martyr.

— tim sullivan, The Courier-Journal, "NCAA makes Brian Bowen seem a victim | Tim Sullivan," 30 May 2018
As many Sixers fans have latched on to former General Manager Sam Hinkie as somewhat of a martyr figure, there were a number of tweets saying that Hinkie died for The Process.

— the heat index, azcentral, "Twitter reacts to story on former Suns GM Bryan Colangelo's possible burner accounts," 30 May 2018
Bright blue banners for al-Sadr's election alliance jostle for space along streets lined with martyr posters and images of al-Sadr and his father.

— susannah george, Fox News, "Iraqi Shiite cleric gained ground with nationalist voice," 14 May 2018
After all, Christian exaltation of the suffering of Christ and the martyrs has permeated Western culture for nearly two thousand years, long before the latest campus dust-ups about no-platforming conservative speakers.

— jeet heer, The New Republic, "The Centrist Grievance Against “Victim Politics”," 7 May 2018
But Alam’s mothers are not one-dimensional martyrs.

— hannah giorgis, The Atlantic, "Rumaan Alam Ponders the Limits of Parental Love," 15 May 2018
At one point there’s an extravagant expiration montage, as one fictional, suffering Reich martyr after another dies on camera, for the fatherland.

— michael phillips, chicagotribune.com, "'Hitler's Hollywood': Taking inventory of the Nazi dream factory," 10 May 2018
Then again, there’s no need to present him as a saint or a martyr.

— SI.com, "Twenty Years After Losing Justin Fashanu, Is English Football Finally Ready to Accept Gay Players?," 9 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'martyr.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of martyr

Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Greek martyr-, martys witness

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

Other Christian Religious Terms

Pentateuch, blasphemy, curate, doxology, eremite, iconoclasm, liturgy, orison, pneuma, reliquary

martyr

verb

Definition of martyr

transitive verb

1 : to put to death for adhering to a belief, faith, or profession

2 : to inflict agonizing pain on : torture

See martyr defined for English-language learners

Recent Examples of martyr from the Web

Yet at the height of the American occupation of neighboring Iraq, Assad encouraged Syrian jihadists to go martyr themselves by killing Americans.

— christopher dickey, New York Times, "War Without End," 6 Apr. 2018
The end of Jesus Christ Superstar (spoiler alert?) shows the horror of the crucifixion, with Jesus betrayed and martyred on the cross.

— caroline framke, Vox, "The electric spectacle of Jesus Christ Superstar Live, in one shot," 2 Apr. 2018
The Roman Martyrology, the official record of Catholic saints, lists several that were named Valentine, two of whom were martyred on February 14, but there are no existing contemporary records of these events.

— jeff suess, Cincinnati.com, "The origin of Valentine's Day isn't what you think," 14 Feb. 2018
So the Bitcoin faithful have tried to not only convert people, but also convince them to martyr themselves, financially-speaking, for the crypto cause.

— greg larose, NOLA.com, "Stein Mart to close Tchoupitoulas Street store in February," 28 Dec. 2017
Match participants reckon with this peculiar fraction of agency—too little to guarantee a happy ending, too much to feel martyred by a sad one.

— nitin k. ahuja, Slate Magazine, "Match Game," 17 Mar. 2017
Jack Marburger martyred himself for science and for his country.

— brian palmer, Slate Magazine, "Donald Trump Should Not Appoint a Science Adviser," 21 Apr. 2017
In pious tradition, Peter preceded him to Rome and both were martyred there.

— nicholas frankovich, National Review, "All Americans Are a Little Italian, Christians Are Spiritually Jewish," 21 Sep. 2017
Twitter Facebook − + Jeffrey Stewart • 6 days ago Describe in your own way how one individual affects you so? Please martyr yourself.

— alexandra holterman, Billboard, "Eminem Leads Reading Festival Crowd in 'F--k Trump' Chant," 28 Aug. 2017

Origin and Etymology of martyr

see ¹martyr

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

MARTYR Defined for English Language Learners

martyr

noun

Definition of martyr for English Language Learners

: a person who is killed or who suffers greatly for a religion, cause, etc.
: a person who pretends to suffer or who exaggerates suffering in order to get praise or sympathy
: a person who suffers greatly from something (such as an illness)