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/mˈɑrtər/ Listen

noun

Martyr n.

One who, by his death, bears witness to the truth of the gospel; one who is put to death for his religion; as, Stephen was the first Christian martyr. "To be a martyr, signifies only to witness the truth of Christ; but the witnessing of the truth was then so generally attended with persecution, that martyrdom now signifies not only to witness, but to witness by death."

Hence, one who sacrifices his life, his station, or what is of great value to him, for the sake of principle, or to sustain a cause. "Then if thou fall'st, O Cromwell, Thou fall'st a blessed martyr!"

verb

Martyr v. t. (past & past part. martyred; pres. part. martyring)

To put to death for adhering to some belief, esp. Christianity; to sacrifice on account of faith or profession.

To persecute; to torment; to torture. "The lovely Amoret, whose gentle heart Thou martyrest with sorrow and with smart." "Racked with sciatics, martyred with the stone."

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Etymology of 'Martyr'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Martyr" Quotes from Famous Books

... flamed up, and she uttered a half-choked exclamation. "Oh," she cried—"you've fallen in love with playing the martyr; it's SELF-love! You SEE yourself in the role! No one on earth could make me believe you're in LOVE with this degraded imbecile—all that's left of the wreck of a vicious life! It isn't that! It's because you ...

— The Guest of Quesnay • Booth Tarkington

... Harley. "You grieve, and nobly. But you have shunned the worst and most vulgar deceit in civilized life; you have not simulated love. Better that yon poor lady should be, awhile, the sufferer from a harsh truth, than the eternal martyr of a flattering lie! Alas, my Leonard! with the love of the poet's dream are linked only the Graces; with the love of the human ...

— My Novel, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... of the hero or martyr who defies his tribe for the sake of what he thinks the truth or the right can easily be thought out on these lines. He defies this false temporary Cosmos in loyalty to the true ...

— Five Stages of Greek Religion • Gilbert Murray

... of hostilities the then noble President, who had carried the country so far through its perils, fell a martyr to his patriotism at the ...

— State of the Union Addresses of Ulysses S. Grant • Ulysses S. Grant

... witness at last As a martyr to truth. Did his life do the same in the past From the ...

— It Can Be Done - Poems of Inspiration • Joseph Morris

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