Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Martyr |
MartyrNoun1. One who suffers for the sake of principle. 2. One who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty for refusing to renounce their religion. Verb1. Kill as a martyr; "Saint Sebastian was martyred". 2. Make into a martyr. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "martyr" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1379. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Satire | MARTYR, n. One who moves along the line of least reluctance to a desired death. Source: Devil's Dictionary. |
Bible | Martyr one who bears witness of the truth, and suffers death in the cause of Christ (Acts 22:20; Rev. 2:13; 17:6). In this sense Stephen was the first martyr. The Greek word so rendered in all other cases is translated "witness." (1.) In a court of justice (Matt. 18:16; 26:65; Acts 6:13; 7:58; Heb. 10:28; 1 Tim. 5:19). (2.) As of one bearing testimony to the truth of what he has seen or known (Luke 24:48; Acts 1:8, 22; Rom. 1:9; 1 Thess. 2:5, 10; 1 John 1:2). Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary. |
Dream Interpretation | To dream of martyrs, denotes that false friends, domestic unhappiness and losses in affairs which concern you most. To dream that you are a martyr, signifies the separation from friends, and enemies will slander you. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted .... |
Literature | Martyr (Greek) simply means a witness, but is applied to one who witnesses a good confession with his blood. The martyr king. Charles I. of England, beheaded January 30th, 1649. He was buried at Windsor, and was called "The White King." Martyr to science. Claude Louis, Count Berthollet, who determined to test in his own person the effects of carbolic acid on the human frame, and died under the experiment. (1748-1822.). Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Historically, a martyr (from Greek martys for "witness") was considered to be a person who died for their religious faith, typically by being tortured to death.
Christian martyrs in the first three centuries A.D. were crucified in the same manner as Roman political prisoners or eaten by lions as a circus spectacle. Many church historians claim that there were more Christian martyrs in the 20th century than in the first 19 centuries combined.
The term has since been used metaphorically for people killed in a historical struggle for some cause, such as Steve Biko or Rachel Corrie, or those whose deaths served to galvanize a particular movement, such as Matthew Shepard.
In the 20th century, some writers began to apply the term to suicide bombers as well, a usage hotly disputed.
A person who was expelled from school for his or her religious beliefs is called a school martyr, whether it is the student's religious beliefs or those of his or her parents.
Hero or villain?
The term "martyr" is in some ways a semantically interchangable with "hero" — both are almost always controversial. The phrase 'one man's hero is another's criminal' is a simple way of expressing this disparity. Warriors throughout history returning from battle are typically revered for "heroism" and "bravery" — regardless of criminal acts they might have committed during war. In all cultures, war dead are considered to be in some sense "martyrs." This is true of U.S. soldiers killed in foreign military operations — the U.S. President commonly refers to "their sacrifice" as being "for the cause of freedom." This claim is of course but one point of view, and the veracity of such a claim tends to be measured not in the merits, but in terms of the outcomes of conflict. ("History is written by the victor.")
Suicide bombers (or homicide bombers) in Palestine are typically hailed as "martyrs" by many Palestinans (the actual percentage is also disputed). The cause of Palestinian freedom or nationalism tends to be hurt by the targeting of Israeli civilians by terrorists, and terrorism is generally denouced as a form around the world--not necessarily for its criminality, but for its use against strong civilized nations as a way to circumvent military might. The disctinction between martyr and criminal tend to follow the same politicized distinctions between "soldier" and "terrorist".
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Martyr."
Synonyms: MartyrSynonyms: sufferer (n), martyrize (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Asceticism | Ascetic; anchoret, anchorite; martyr; Heautontimorumenos; hermit; (recluse); puritan, sabbatarian, cynic, sanyasi, yogi. |
Disease | Martyr to disease; cripple; " the halt the lame and the blind"; valetudinary, valetudinarian; invalid, patient, case; sickroom, sick-chamber. |
Pain | Sufferer, victim, prey, martyr, object of compassion, wretch, shorn lamb. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Martyr |
| English words defined with "martyr": beatify ♦ Christopher ♦ Decollation ♦ Ethelred, Ethelred II, Ethelred the Unready ♦ George ♦ Hiermartyr ♦ Laurentius, Lawrence ♦ Martyred, Martyring, martyrize, Martyrly, miracle play ♦ Proto-, Protomartyr ♦ Saint Christopher, Saint George, Saint Lawrence, St George, St Vitus ♦ Tindal, Tindale, Tyndale ♦ Unmartyr ♦ Vitus ♦ William Tindal, William Tindale, William Tyndale. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "martyr": Dying Sayings ♦ guiltware ♦ Januarius ♦ Kingston-on-Thames ♦ Mother of the Gracchi ♦ Oldcastle ♦ Proto-martyr ♦ Shrovetide Cocks, Steenie, SULZER. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "martyr": Protomartyr. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Martyr" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Danish (martyr), French (martyr, martyred), Latin (martyr), Manx (martyr), Swedish (martyr). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I prefer being a plaintiff, but a defendant's nice too. I get a martyr glow (Ally McBeal; writing credit: Henri Vernes) I don't pretend to be a martyr, no. (Procès, Le; writing credit: Orson Welles) | |
Lyrics | I guess you'd rather be a martyr tonight (An Innocent Man; performing artist: Billy Joel) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Le Martyr de Bougival (1949) The Martyr Sex (1924) Nurse and Martyr (1915) A Martyr of the Present (1915) An Indian Martyr (1911) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Being christened by Mrs. C. W. Martyr during launching ceremonies on 14 March 1943. The ship was built by the Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, Washington. Credit: NAVY. |  | Chapel of the Martyr Elizaveta Fedorovna (1992), northeast view, Ekaterinburg, Russia. Credit: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540. |
 | The body of martyr Amam is also supposed to be arrived [sic] tonight by the airplane / Ardeshir Mohassess. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Youssef el Sebai : martyr of the Afro-Asian Solidarity, 10-6-1917 [to] 18-2-1978. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | The second anniversary of the assassination of the martyr Umar Benfelloun, Jan. 18, 1975 - Jan. 18, 197. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Hani Jawharieh, the militant cinema martyr. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Charles Caleb Colton | He that dies a martyr proves that he was not a knave, but by no means that he was not a fool. |
Ralph Waldo Emerson | The martyr cannot be dishonored. Every lash inflicted is a tongue of fame; every prison a more illustrious abode. |
| And one may say boldly that no man has a right perception of any truth who has not been reacted on by it so as to be ready to be its martyr. | |
Soren Kierkegaard | The tyrant dies and his rule ends, the martyr dies and his rule begins. |
The Koran | The ink of the scholar and the blood of a martyr are of equal value in heaven. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | And let you, Stephen, make a novena to your holy patron saint, the first martyr, who is very powerful with God, that God may enlighten your mind |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Martyr" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 82.77% of the time. "Martyr" is used about 238 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 82.77% | 197 | 21,803 |
| Noun (proper) | 13.45% | 32 | 61,292 |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 2.1% | 5 | 157,705 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 1.68% | 4 | 175,879 |
| Total | 100.00% | 238 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "martyr" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Martyr | Last name | 100 | 70,318 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "martyr": Edward the Martyr ♦ Saint Edward the Martyr ♦ St Edward the Martyr. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "martyr": martyr-king, martyr-like. | |
Ending with "martyr": theologian-martyr. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "martyr"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | martir, theror (holocaust, offering, sacrifice), dëshmor. (various references) | |
Arabic | من يضحي برغبته, قتل لعقيدته, ضحية (black sheep, fall guy, patsy, prey, sacrifice, sinister, sufferer, victim), شهيد. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | убивам мъченически, мъченик, преследвам (bait, chase, chivy, drive, drive at, haunt, hunt down, lay siege to, obsess, persecute, prosecute, pursue, push, run, siege, tag), правя мъченик от, измъчвам (afflict, agonize, ail, anguish, crucify, excruciate, fester, harass, lacerate, martyrize, play up, prey, push, rack, rankle, ride, scourge, smite, torture, try, victimize, weigh on). (various references) | |
Chinese | 烈士 . (various references) | |
Czech | muèit (excruciate, tantalize, torment, torture), muèedník, umuèit. (various references) | |
Danish | martyr. (various references) | |
Dutch | martelaar, bloedgetuige. (various references) | |
Esperanto | martiro, martirino (female martyr). (various references) | |
Faeroese | pínslarváttur. (various references) | |
Farsi | فداءی (Devotee, Immolate, Zealous), شهیدراه خداکردن , شهید. (various references) | |
Finnish | marttyyri. (various references) | |
French | martyre (female martyr, martyrdom), martyr (martyred). (various references) | |
Frisian | martelder. (various references) | |
German | Märtyrer. (various references) | |
Greek | βασανίζω μαρτυρικώσ, ιερομάρτυρασ, μάρτυρασ (deponent, witness), μάρτυρας (witness), μάρτυσ (attester, attestor, voucher, witness), φονεύω μαρτυρικώσ. (various references) | |
Hebrew | מק"ש שם, ל"וציא ל"ור' (execute, put to death), ק"וש מעו ". (various references) | |
Hungarian | vértanú, mártír. (various references) | |
Icelandic | píslarvottur. (various references) | |
Indonesian | martir, syuhada, syahid. (various references) | |
Italian | martire. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 殉難者 (victim), 殉教者 . (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | じゅ"な"しゃ (victim), じゅ"きょうしゃ. (various references) | |
Manx | martyrey, martyr. (various references) | |
Papiamen | mártir (female martyr). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | artyrmay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | mártir (confessor). (various references) | |
Romanian | mucenic, martiriza (martyrize, torment), martir, chinui (agonize, bait, bore, drudge, fester, grill, harass, Harrow, Harry, lacerate, martyrize, mortify, overdrive, persecute, pinch, plague, prey, prick, rack, slave, tantalize, torment, torture, trouble, try, worry, wring). (various references) | |
Russian | мученик. (various references) | |
Scottish | mairtir (a martyr). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | mučenik, umoriti mučeničkom smrću (martyrize), učiniti nekoga mučenikom, izmučiti (victimize). (various references) | |
Spanish | mártir. (various references) | |
Swedish | martyr. (various references) | |
Turkish | mağdur (aggrieved), kurban (fall guy, fatality, holocaust, oblation, offering, patsy, peace offering, prey, sacrifice, sacrificial, stiff, sufferer, victim), işkence etmek (agonize, crucify, excruciate, grill, persecute, put to the torture, rack, torment, torture), işkence çekerek ölen kimse, şehit etmek (martyrize), şehit (casualty). (various references) | |
Turkmen | ezяet, ejir. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | мученик, замучити. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | liệt sĩ, kẻ chết vì nghĩa, kẻ chết vì đạo, kẻ chịu đoạ đ y. (various references) | |
Welsh | merthyru, merthyr. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | martyr, martyria, martyrum, martyr-yris, testis. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | Acts Chapter 22, Verse 20 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Kai ote execeito to aima stefanou tou marturoV sou kai autoV hmhn efestwV kai suneudokwn th anairesei autou kai fulasswn ta imatia twn anairountwn auton |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Et cum funderetur sanguis Stephani testis tui ego adstabam et consentiebam et custodiebam vestimenta interficientium illum |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And whanne the blood of Steuene, thi witnesse, was sched out, Y stood niy, and consentide, and kept the clothis of men that slowen hym. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | And when the bloud of thy witnes Steven was sheed I also stode by and consented vnto his deeth and kept the rayment of them that slewe him. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | And when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting to his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | And when Stephen your witness was put to death, I was there, giving approval, and looking after the clothing of those who put him to death. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Acts Chapter 22, Verse 20 |
| Albanian | kur u derdh gjaku i Stefanit, dëshmorit tënd, edhe unë isha i pranishëm, e miratoja vdekjen e tij dhe ruaja rrobat e atyre që e vrisnin. |
| Cebuano | ug nga sa pag-ula gani sa dugo ni Esteban nga imong saksi, ako usab nagtambong man ug naghatag sa akong pag-uyon niini, ug ako gayud mao ang nag-atang sa mga bisti sa mga nagpatay kaniya.` |
| Croatian | I dok se prolijevala krv Stjepana, svjedoka tvoga, i ja sam ondje stajao i odobravao te èuvao haljine onih koji ga ubijahu.' |
| Danish | og da dit Vidne Stefanus's Blod blev udgydt, stod også jeg hos og havde Behag deri og vogtede på deres Klæder, som sloge ham ihjel. |
| Dutch | En toen het bloed van Stefanus, Uw getuige, vergoten werd, dat ik daar ook bij stond, en mede een welbehagen had in zijn dood, en de klederen bewaarde dergenen, die hem doodden. |
| Finnish | Ja kun Stefanuksen, sinun todistajasi, veri vuodatettiin, olin minäkin läsnä, hyväksyin sen ja vartioin hänen surmaajainsa vaatteita.` |
| French | lorsqu`on répandit le sang d`Étienne, ton témoin, j`étais moi-même présent, joignant mon approbation celle des autres, et gardant les vêtements de ceux qui le faisaient mourir. |
| German | und da das Blut des Stephanus, deines Zeugen, vergossen ward, stand ich auch dabei und hatte Wohlgefallen an seinem Tode und verwahrte denen die Kleider, die ihn töteten. |
| Hungarian | És mikor ama te mártírodnak, Istvánnak vére kiontaték, én is ott állék és helyeslém az õ megöletését, és õrizém azoknak köntösét, a kik õt megölték. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Begitu juga ketika saksi-Mu Stefanus dibunuh mati, saya sendiri berada di situ dan menyetujui pembunuhan itu. Malah sayalah yang menunggui pakaian orang-orang yang membunuh dia.' |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | Dan tatkala darah Stepanus, yaitu saksimu, ditumpahkan, aku ada juga berdiri dekat serta memperkenankan, dan menunggu pakaian orang yang membunuh dia. |
| Italian | quando si versava il sangue di Stefano, tuo testimone, anch'io ero presente e approvavo e custodivo i vestiti di quelli che lo uccidevano. |
| Maori | A, i te whakahekenga o nga toto o tou kaiwhakaatu, o Tepene, i reira ahau e tu ana, e whakaae ana, e tiaki ana hoki i nga kakahu o ona kaiwhakamate. |
| Norwegian | og da blodet av Stefanus, ditt vidne, blev utgytt, stod jeg også hos og samtykte i det og tok vare på klærne til dem som slo ham ihjel. |
| Portuguese | e quando se derramava o sangue de Estêvão, tua testemunha, eu também estava presente, consentindo na sua morte e guardando as capas dos que o matavam. |
| Rumanian | wi cq, atunci cknd se vqrsa skngele lui Wtefan, marturul Tqu, eram wi eu de fayq, kmi uneam kncuviinyarea mea cu a celorlayi, wi pqzeam hainele celor ce -l omorau.`` |
| Russian | Й ЛПЗ"Б ТПМЙЧБМБУШ ЛТПЧШ уФЕЖБОБ, УЧЙ"ЕФЕМС фЧПЕЗП, С ФБН УФПСМ, П"П'ТСМ Х'ЙЕОЙЕ ЕЗП Й УФЕТЕЗ П"ЕЦ"Щ П'ЙЧБЧЫЙИ ЕЗП. |
| Shuar | Tura Nuyá Aminiu etserniun Estepankan Máiniakuisha wisha wajamjai. Túruiniakui, "pénkeraiti" Tímiajai. Nú arantcha ni pushirin iirsamjai" Tímiajai.' |
| Spanish | y cuando se derramaba la sangre de tu testigo Esteban, yo también estaba presente, aprobaba su muerte y guardaba la ropa de los que le mataban." |
| Swahili | Na kwamba wakati shahidi wako Stefano alipouawa, mimi binafsi nilikuwako pale nikakubaliana na kitendo hicho na kuyalinda makoti ya wale waliokuwa wanamuua.` |
| Uma | Wae wo'o, hi karapatehi-na sabi' -nu Stefanus, retu wo'o-a-kuwo mpokagoe' karapatehi-na, pai' aku' -mi to mpodongo baju-ra to mpopatehi-i.' |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "martyr": martyrdom, martyrdoms, martyred, martyries, martyring, martyrization, martyrizations, martyrize, martyrized, martyrizes, martyrizing, martyrly, martyrologies, martyrologist, martyrologists, martyrology, martyrs, martyry. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "martyr": protomartyr. (additional references) | |
Words containing "martyr": protomartyrs. (additional references) | |
| |
"Martyr" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Dartry, maftir, mantir, marby, mardy, marmy, martar, Marter, martic, martier, Martire, martor, martr, martry, martyh, martyn, Martyre, martyria, martyrium, martyry, martys, marvy, marytr, matyr, morty, mrtyr, Murty, sartyr. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "martyr" (pronounced mÄ"rter) |
| 5 | m Ä" r t er | smarter. |
| 4 | -Ä" r t er | barter, Carter, charter, darter, garter, nonstarter, Sartor, starter, tartar, Tarter. |
| 3 | -r t er | Courter, exporter, headquarter, hindquarter, importer, mortar, porter, quarter, reporter, shorter, sorter, supporter, transporter. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-m-r-r-t-y" | |
-1 letter: marry, tarry, tryma. | |
-2 letters: army, arty, mart, tram, tray. | |
-3 letters: arm, art, mar, mat, may, ram, rat, ray, rya, tam, tar, try, yam, yar. | |
-4 letters: am, ar, at, ay, ma, my, ta, ya. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-m-r-r-t-y" | |
+1 letter: martyrs, martyry, mortary. | |
+2 letters: martyred, martyrly, moratory, mortuary. | |
+3 letters: barometry, crematory, marquetry, martyrdom, martyries, martyring, martyrize, migratory, temporary, termitary. | |
+4 letters: arrhythmia, arrhythmic, astrometry, cryptogram, dramaturgy, erythremia, gravimetry, intermarry, martyrdoms, martyrized, martyrizes, matriarchy, radiometry, yardmaster. | |
+5 letters: arrhythmias, calorimetry, craniometry, cryptarithm, cryptograms, cryptomeria, erythremias, erythrismal, eurythermal, extemporary, fragmentary, hypermarket, imprecatory, informatory, lachrymator, martyrizing, martyrology, meritocracy, polarimetry, postprimary, prematurely, prematurity, protomartyr, reformatory, rudimentary, temporarily, yardmasters. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Familiar | 9. Quotations: Fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Names: Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Translations: Ancient 16. Bible Trace | 17. Derivations 18. Rhymes 19. Anagrams 20. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
