martyr

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noun mar·tyr \ ˈmär-tər \

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

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martyrize

play \ˈmär-tə-ˌrīz\ transitive verb

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Recent Examples of martyr from the Web

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Cantwell’s show became a favorite among white nationalists who saw him as a martyr who advocated their views.

— christopher d. cantwell, The Atlantic, "The Digitally Entangled Lives of Two Christopher Cantwells," 29 Aug. 2017
The crew is about to make a great escape with the team on dragonback, but Jon has to play the martyr and fight off every leftover skeleton coming his way.

— elyse roth, Glamour, "'Game of Thrones' Season 7 Episode 6 Recap: A Major Fan Theory About Daenerys' Dragons Was Just Confirmed," 20 Aug. 2017
That change would best come about through a debate that doesn’t fall into a trap extremists often set: Banning symbols the extremists hijack, driving those symbols underground and making them marble or cloth martyrs for a false cause.

— tom still, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "In some places, the Civil War isn’t over … or even called that," 18 Aug. 2017
Google quickly fired the software engineer who wrote it, turning him into something of a martyr among conservatives eager to lionize an ideological defector.

— vanityfair.com, "Can the Far Right Secede From Silicon Valley?," 17 Aug. 2017
Google quickly fired the software engineer who wrote it, turning him into something of a martyr among conservatives eager to lionize an ideological defector.

— maya kosoff, The Hive, "Can the Far Right Secede From Silicon Valley?," 17 Aug. 2017
But in February 2015, Pope Francis declared Romero a martyr, and a month later, he was beatified, a key step toward becoming a Catholic saint.

— marisa gerber, latimes.com, "Three artifacts linked to Salvadoran Archbishop Romero on display Sunday at L.A. cathedral," 13 Aug. 2017
If Trump fires Cordray, Cordray could become a martyr, increasing his popularity in a run for governor.

— seth a. richardson, cleveland.com, "Corey Lewandowski wants Richard Cordray fired: Ohio Politics Roundup," 31 July 2017
The martyr was himself a killer, says Franco Martín López, the institute’s director.

— The Economist, "Challenging the cult of Che Guevara," 20 July 2017

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

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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

Griffin, who made her career by mocking celebrities, is not the most likely comedian to be martyred over the inalienable right to criticize the president.

— yashar ali, The Cut, "Off With Her Head," 27 Aug. 2017
This week in Kaepernick More than 1,000 protesters rallied outside NFL headquarters demanding that martyred QB Colin Kaepernick be given a quarterback job and allowed to express his First Amendment rights.

— david whitley, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Chickening out is football's next crisis," 26 Aug. 2017
Though his origin story is murky, he is said to have been an Armenian martyred in fourth-century Turkey while serving as a Roman centurion.

— mike scott, NOLA.com, "The (almost) true legend of St. Expedite in New Orleans," 19 Aug. 2017
There's a temptation to see Comey as a Becket figure, a man at risk of being martyred by the overreaching state.

— david perry, CNN, "Trump and Comey are no Henry and Becket," 9 June 2017
Heroes typically get crucified or martyred in the end.

— russell blair, courant.com, "Democrats Say Comey's Testimony Was 'Chilling'," 8 June 2017
Azmy asked church members to pray for those martyred and also to pray for their assailants.

— frank vaisvilas, Daily Southtown, "Nephew says Tinley Park man among victims in Egyptian attack on Coptic Christians," 28 May 2017
The ugly episode poisoned the Vikings when pictures were leaked revealing the boy’s injuries and Peterson martyred himself as the victim of a politicized front office and league.

— brian murphy, Twin Cities, "Murphy: Vikings’ Rick Spielman doesn’t say much. But this is clear: Adrian Peterson is gone.," 28 Feb. 2017
The two deputy governors before him had been martyred.

— mujib mashal and taimoor shah, New York Times, "Young Symbol of Afghan Resilience Joins List of Lost Leaders," 11 Jan. 2017

Origin and Etymology of martyr

see ¹martyr

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: before 12th century

See Words from the same year

MARTYR Defined for English Language Learners

martyr

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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)