▪ I. martyr, n.
(ˈmɑːtə(r))
Also 1–6 martir, 3–6 -ter, 4 -tire, 4–5 -tyre, -tre, 5 -tier, 6 Sc. -teir, -ther.
[OE. martyr, ad. Eccl.L. martyr, a. Gr. µάρτυρ, æolic and late Gr. form of µάρτυς (stem µαρτυρ-) witness (in Christian use, martyr), f. Aryan root *smer- (whence Skr. smar) to remember.
The Gr. word was adopted in Goth. as martyr. The Lat. word passed into all the Rom. langs. (OF. martir, Pr., mod.F., Pg. martyr, Sp. martir, It. martire) and some of the Teut. langs. (OFris., OS. martir, MLG. marter, Sw., Da. martyr); in Ger. and Du. the sense was expressed by a derivative (OHG. martirâri, MHG. merterer, mod.G. märtyrer; MHG. martelære, MLG. martelere, MDu. martelare, mod.Du. martelaar), f. OHG. martira, martela (MHG. martere, martel, mod.G. marter, MDu., MHG. martele, mod.Du. martel- in Combs.) fem., ad. L. martyrium martyrdom. In ON. p{iacu}slarváttr (‘torture-witness’) was substituted.]
1. Eccl. a. The specific designation of honour (connoting the highest degree of saintship) for: One who voluntarily undergoes the penalty of death for refusing to renounce the Christian faith or any article of it, for perseverance in any Christian virtue, or for obedience to any law or command of the Church.
A sect which regarded its distinctive principles as part of the Christian faith could apply the title, in this strict sense, to its own members who died under persecution, while by others the application would be repudiated, or only conceded ironically. Popularly, however, this sense has long tended to be apprehended as a specific use of sense 2.
| a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. vii, Ðær wæs þa heafde beslaᵹen se strengesta martyr Sancts Albanus. c 1000 Menologium 69 Sculan we hwæðere ᵹyt martira ᵹemynd ma areccan. 1154 O.E. Chron. an. 1137 (Laud MS.) Ne uuæren næure nan martyrs swa pined alse hi wæron. a 1225 Ancr R. 50 Þe reade [creoice] limpeð to þeo þat beoð, uor Godes luue, mid hore blodshedunge irudded & ireaded, ase þe martirs weren. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 35 He gate of hir S. Edward, þat is þe martere. c 1388 in Wyclif's Sel. Wks. III. 489 Of Seint Steven men bene certayne by holy writte þat he is a gloriouse martire. c 1400 Destr. Troy 3488 Dyssmembrit as marters, & murtheret to dethe. 1474 Caxton Chesse 61 Abel was the fyrst martir in the olde testament. 1529 More Dyaloge i. Wks. 134/2, I thanke god & his holy marter, I can se nowe as well as any man. 1586 B. Young Guazzo's Civ. Conv. iv. 218 b, If I had not giuen credence to that Prouerbe, That it is better to bee a Martyr than a Confessour. 1611 Bible Acts xxii. 20 When y⊇ blood of thy martyr [other versions witness (Vulgate testis)] Steuen was shed. 1653 A. Ross View of all Relig. xii. 403 Barrowists, so called from Barrow, their first Martyr. 1672 Evelyn Diary 20 Feb., K. Charles our Martyr. 1704 Nelson Fest. & Fasts xxviii. (1739) 361 It was necessary to resist unto blood, to acquire the glorious Privilege of a Martyr. 1850 A. Jameson Leg. Monast. Ord. (1863) 97, I am not sure that the title of martyr properly belongs to St. Edward, for his death was not voluntary, nor from any religious cause. |
¶ The events of the Reformation period caused the word to be popularly associated
esp. with death by fire. Hence sometimes
transf.| 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. cii, And burning ships, the martyrs of the fight, With paler fires beheld the eastern sky. |
† b. Used with sarcastic emphasis for: One who suffers death in an evil cause.
Obs.| c 1380 Wyclif Sel. Wks. III. 171 But Lord! what mede were it to feden and norischen þus Anticrist martres! ― Wks. (1880) 211 Sathanas children & marteris of glotonye. 1577 T. Vautrollier Luther on Ep. Gal. 234 The doers of the lawe..are rightly called the Deuils martyrs. They take more paynes..in purchasing hell..then the Martyrs of Christ doe in obtaining heauen. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Trav. xxxvii. 247 This action of theirs brought these Martyrs of the Divell into the Number of the Saints. 1841 Ld. Houghton One Tract More 10 Melancthon mentions that the German Lutherans named those that had suffered for the reformed cause in England, the Devil's Martyrs. |
c. Used in the etymological sense of: Witness.
| 1642 Milton Apol. Smect. Wks. 1851 III. 301 These opening the prisons and dungeons cal'd out of darknesse and bonds, the elect Martyrs and witnesses of their Redeemer. a 1677 Barrow Serm. (1686) III. 95 Having such a cloud of Martyrs [Heb. xii. 1]. |
2. a. One who undergoes death (more loosely, one who undergoes great suffering) on behalf of any religious or other belief or cause, or as a consequence of his devotion to some object. Const.
to.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. i. 193 Were our Royall faiths Martyrs in Loue. 1652 Bp. Hall Invis. World ii. i, That heathen martyr Socrates. 1695 Congreve Love for L. i. ii, Who would die a martyr to sense in a country where the religion is folly? 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. iv. (1841) I. 92 You are like to be a Martyr in the worst cause that ever saint suffered in. 1737 Pope Hor. Ep. i. i. 151 The Fool, whose Wife elopes some thrice a quarter, For matrimonial solace dies a martyr. 1777 Watson Philip II (1839) 325 His father had died a martyr for that cause, which he now wanted so basely to betray. 1793 Burke Corr. (1844) IV. 185 That patience and fortitude..which distinguished the martyrs of your family in their last calamitous struggle. 1863 Chem. News 14 Feb. 84/1 (heading) A Martyr to Science. |
b. One who dies a victim (
to..).
| 1792 S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. i. 286 [He] sinks a martyr to repentant sighs. 1800 M. Edgeworth Murad iii, Murad..died a martyr to the immoderate use of opium. |
3. hyperbolically.
a. One who suffers tortures comparable to those described in the legends of martyrs; a constant sufferer. Const.
to (an ailment, etc.).
A common use in
mod. Fr. (In the first
quot. the word may be a verb
intr., ‘to suffer as a martyr’:
Godef. cites a very similar passage as example of the
OF. martirer.)
| c 1560 A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xvi. 12 To lufe & serf his lady bricht, And want hir syne, As I do, martir day and ny{supt}. 1847 F. A. Kemble in Rec. Later Life (1882) III. 186 She is a martyr to dyspepsia and bad cooking. 1892 Law Times XCII. 160/1 The deceased..had been a martyr for years to rheumatic gout. |
b. to make a martyr of: to subject to hardship or inconvenience. Now often jocularly,
to make a martyr of oneself: to make a real or pretended sacrifice of one's inclinations for the sake of gaining credit for it.
| 1599 Peele Sir Clyom. Wks. (Bullen) II. 168 He even means to make a martris [sic: ? meant as an illiterate blunder] of poor Shift his man. 1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal iv, You shall not make a martyr of yourself for my sake. |
4. attrib. and
Comb. a. appositive (
quasi-adj.).
| 1651–3 Jer. Taylor Serm. for Year II. iv. 43 The monuments of the Martyr Prophets. 1710 Pope Windsor For. 313 Here o'er the martyr-king the marble weeps. 1833 Marsden Early Purit. 9 The martyr-bishop Hooper. c 1862 E. Dickinson Poems (1955) II. 417 The Martyr Poets—did not tell—But wrought their Pang in syllable—..The Martyr Painters—never spoke. 1863 I. Williams Baptistery ii. xxii. (1874) 67 That fam'd Antioch's martyr-maid. 1870 Brewer's Dict. Phr. & Fable 558/2 The Martyr King, Charles I. of England, beheaded January 30th, 1649. 1876 G. M. Hopkins Wreck of Deutschland xxi, in Poems (1967) 58 Thy unchancelling poising palms were weighing the worth, Thou martyr-master. 1883 Century Mag. July 328/1 One [town] called Garfield, in honour of the martyr president. 1908 L. Dawson Nicknames & Pseudonyms 194 Martyr King.., Charles i..King of England. Ibid. 195 Martyr President.., Abraham Lincoln. 1939 R. Campbell Flowering Rifle iv. 117 The Press then bills him as a martyr-hero. 1942 Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §184/14 The Martyr President,..Uncle Abe, Abraham Lincoln. |
b. simple
attrib., as
martyr-cell,
martyr-conduct,
martyr-death,
martyr-fire,
martyr-flame,
martyr-habit,
martyr-legend,
martyr-spasm,
martyr-spirit,
martyr-stake,
martyr-task,
martyr-train,
martyr-zeal;
martyr-like adv. c. objective, as
martyr † -queller,
martyr-slaying. Also
martyr complex, an exaggerated desire to sacrifice oneself for others and to have the sacrifice recognized;
martyr-maker,
-man, contemptuous names for the martyrologist John Foxe (1517–1587);
martyr-vase Antiq., a vessel in which relics of a martyr were preserved.
| 1860 W. H. Ainsworth Ovingdean Grange 242 Dulcia may be..placed..in the *martyr-cells beneath the White-Hart. |
| 1931 Times Lit. Suppl. 22 Jan. 58/4 In Rachel, we are asked to believe they fix a ‘*martyr-complex’, or give her a taste for unnecessary self-sacrifice. |
| 1831 Carlyle Charact. Misc. 1857 III. 17 Heroic *martyr Conduct. |
| 1798 W. Sotheby tr. Wieland's Oberon (1826) II. 129 Huon with lingering *martyr-death decays. |
| 1849 Stovel Introd. Canne's Necess. 50 Meeting..round the *martyr-fires which consumed their brethren. |
| 1830 Tennyson To ― ii, Nor *martyr-flames, nor trenchant swords Can do away that ancient lie. |
| 1902 W. James Var. Relig. Exper. iv. 98 The ‘misery-habit’, the ‘*martyr-habit’, engendered by the prevalent ‘fearthought’. |
| 1902 W. M. Ramsay in Expositor Oct. 284 A good example of the way in which *martyr-legends grew round a really historical name. |
| 1580 Hollyband Treas. Fr. Tong., Martyrement, *Martyr like. |
| 1826 W. E. Andrews Exam. Fox's Cal. Prot. Saints 413 The *martyr-maker appears to have been unacquainted with their christian names. |
| 1826 Cobbett Hist. Prot. Reform. xvi. §471 The ‘pious young Saint Edward’, as Fox, the *martyrman, most impiously calls him. |
| 1532 More Confut. Tindale Wks. 352/1 Murtherers & *martyr quellers. |
| 1826 E. Irving Babylon I. iii. 189 This new *martyr-slaying power. |
| 1916 Blunden Harbingers 66 Marble writhed to *martyr-spasm. |
| 1817 Mrs. Hemans Mod. Greece xlii, The *martyr-spirit of resolve was fled. |
| 1798 W. Sotheby tr. Wieland's Oberon (1826) II. 210 Already stand before the *martyr-stake The pair that perish for each others sake. |
| 1827 Mrs. Hemans Last Constantine xix, Some high *martyr-task. |
| 1827 Keble Chr. Y., Holy Innocents, Their palms and garlands telling plain That they are of the glorious *martyr-train. |
| 1846 C. Maitland Ch. in Catacombs 147 Between the heathen lacrymatory and the so-called *martyr-vase there exists no well defined difference. |
| 1805 Southey Madoc in Azt. xv, Her Priests..fought with *martyr zeal. |
▪ II. martyr, v. (
ˈmɑːtə(r))
Forms: 1 (
ᵹe)martyrian, (
ᵹe)martrian, 3–4
martri, 3–5
martre(n, 3–7
-tir(e, 4
-trye,
-tiry, 4–6
-ter,
-tyre, 5
-tur,
mertre, 6
Sc. marthyr, 4–
martyr.
[f. martyr n.; cf. OF. martirer.] 1. trans. To put to death as a martyr; to make a martyr of. (
† occas. refl.)
| c 893 K. ælfred Oros. vi. vi. (Sweet) 262 Þæt hie Petrus & Paulus ᵹemartredon. a 900 tr. Bæda's Hist. i. vii, Ða wæs eac swylce heafde besleᵹen & ᵹemartyrad se mon, se ðe..wiðsoc þæt he ðone Godes andettere sloᵹe. c 1205 Lay. 10901 Þus ferde Maximien: he martrede seint Alban. 1297 R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1601 He worrede cristendom..& let martri seint denis. a 1300 Cursor M. 8924 Þis womman [Maximilla] was þe first men wist Þat martird was for ihesu crist. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 551 In sauacion of the fayth seynt Thomas was ymartired. 1450–1530 Myrr. our Ladye 124 In greate desyre to be martyrde for the loue of oure lorde Iesu cryste. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. xl. 28 Seynt peter..wente to Rome and was made pope til that Nero the emperour lete hym martren. 1641 J. Jackson True Evang. T. ii. 120 Matthias..was..Martyred by the Axe or Hatchet. 1709 Hearne Collect. 5 Jan. (O.H.S.) II. 162 Tyndale was martyr'd at Fylford. 1853 J. H. Newman Hist. Sk. (1873) II. i. iii. 104 The German tribes..martyred St. Boniface and other..missionaries who came to them. |
† 2. To kill, slay,
esp. by a cruel death. Also with
down (
cf. cut down).
Obs.| c 1305 St. Kenelm 101 in E.E.P. (1862) 50 Oure louerd nold noȝt þat he scholde so liȝtliche ymartred beo. c 1400 Destr. Troy 5553 What mighty were marrit, & martrid to dethe. a 1400–50 Alexander 3644 Þare was þe Medis martird. c 1470 Henry Wallace iv. 377 Our kingis men he haldis at gret wnrest, Martyris thaim doun. 1530 Palsgr. 633/1, I martyr a person, I put him to dethe by turmentynge... They have martyred hym amongest them. 1579 Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 81 My father shall sooner martir mee in the fire than marye me to Philautus. 1794 J. Williams Shrove Tuesday 11 When Strathmore's Countess martyrs all her Cats. |
3. To inflict grievous suffering or pain upon; to torment, torture.
| c 1240 Wohunge in Cott. Hom. 283 Lauedi moder and meiden þu..was wiðinne martird iþi moderliche herte. c 1386 Chaucer Knt.'s T. 704 Wrecched Palamoun, That Theseus martireth in prisoun. 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W. 1495) i. li. 104 b/2 Soo moche as they martred him, soo moche more he louyd theym. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon xxvi. 81, I shall so marter thee that thy body shall not endure it. 1596 Spenser F.Q. iv. vii. 2 The lovely Amoret, whose gentle hart Thou martyrest with sorow and with smart. 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 4 If you be..some furie of purpose sent to vex me, vse your force to the vttermost in martyring me. 1737 Pope Hor. Ep. i. vi. 54 Rack'd with Sciatics, martyr'd with the Stone. 1860 Hawthorne Marb. Faun (1879) II. xxiv. 237 They must..pelt him and absolutely martyr him with jests. 1893 R. T. Jeffrey Visits to Calvary 116 His blessed body martyred and quivering in its every nerve with aching torture. |
† 4. To inflict wounds or disfiguring blows upon; to mutilate; also, to disfigure (the face) with weeping.
Obs.| 1590 C'tess Pembroke Antonie 734 Hir faire discouer'd brest..she still martireth with blowes. 1621 Lady M. Wroth Urania 53 With the flowing of teares, her face was martyred so much, as [etc.]. a 1656 Ussher Ann. (1658) 316 Theodotus himself..sorely martyred with wounds. |
† b. transf. To mutilate, spoil (a thing).
Obs.| c 1450 Erle Tolous 1110 They hewe thorow helme and basenet, And martyrd many a mayle. 1600 Surflet Countrie Farme iii. xxviii. 485 Apples must be gathered..by hand..otherwise the fruite would be much martred. 1655 Fuller Ch. Hist. i. iv. §11 Of such Monuments as were transmitted to Posterity, it is probable most were martyred by the Tyranny of the Pagans. 1658 Sir T. Browne Hydriot. Ep. Ded., Time hath so martyred the Records, that [etc.]. |
5. To represent as a martyr.
nonce-use.
| 1649 Milton Eikon. Pref., Though the Picture sett in front would Martyr him and Saint him to befoole the people. |
▪ III. martyr variant of
marter, a marten.