martyr

noun mar·tyr \ ˈmär-tər \

|Updated on: 6 Aug 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

The Palestinian authority as a government entity pays people to kill Jews and Americans and holds them up to be martyrs.

— Fox News, "Rep. Nunes on the House's Russia investigation findings," 25 Mar. 2018
For some, the shooting solidified Flynt’s position as a free speech icon, as a martyr for the cause.

— Cincinnati Enquirer, "Read more from this Project," 13 July 2018
The death of Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian faith, had a similar theme.

— loren a. yadon, idahostatesman, "Leaving the ‘stage of life’ to the applause of heaven," 12 July 2018
One needed to be big enough to hold all that black womanhood was supposed to be; lover, cook, therapist, mama, freak, co-conspirator, messiah, savior, martyr, while never getting too big.

— sonya renee taylor, SELF, "The House Next Door," 26 June 2018
Both were obsessed with turning Sir John into a hero and martyr for British glory.

— Anchorage Daily News, "‘Finding John Rae’ imagines inner life of Arctic explorer who discovered the Franklin expedition’s grisly fate," 26 May 2018
The color signifies Christ's blood as well as that of Catholic martyrs.

— cara kelly, USA TODAY, "10 things to see at the Met’s 'Heavenly Bodies' exhibit, and what to know before you go," 9 May 2018
African-Americans indeed had not lived up to our end of the deal signed with the blood of civil rights martyrs.

— dahleen glanton, chicagotribune.com, "African-American families say ‘good riddance’ to Bill Cosby," 27 Apr. 2018
In just a few minutes—with just the addition of a veil and some theatrics—the scene radically re-frames the story, offering Grace up as a martyr, a murderer, a performance artist, or the subject of supernatural possession.

— sonia saraiya, HWD, "A Look Beneath the Veil of Alias Grace’s Showstopping Hypnotism," 25 June 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

The letter goes on: There has long been a traditional narrative of blaming, vilifying and martyring courageous women.

— anna silman, The Cut, "Celebrities Pen Powerful Open Letter Defending Asia Argento Against Misogynist Trolls," 13 July 2018
He was martyred by Emperor Nero in Rome for holding publicly to his Christian faith.

— tara isabella burton, Vox, "The racist history of the Bible verse the White House uses to justify separating families," 15 June 2018
Carved wooden figure of St. Apollonia This statue, which dates from around the second half of the 19th century, shows poor St. Apollonia, a Christian from Alexandria, Egypt, who was martyred at the hands of the Romans in A.D. 249.

— roslyn sulcas, New York Times, "This Exhibition Has Real Bite," 7 June 2018
Its origins can be traced to a Greek Orthodox saint whose three daughters were martyred.

— asher fogle, Good Housekeeping, "The Real Meaning Behind 29 of the Most Popular Baby Names," 6 Jan. 2016
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

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)