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martyrdom

UK/ˈmɑː(ɹ).tə(ɹ).dəm/
nounC1Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #11,857 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: martyrdoms

Martyrdom is death or great suffering endured for a belief. Face martyrdom.

The belief is what makes it martyrdom rather than misfortune. Martyrdom is claimed loosely by anybody making a small sacrifice loudly, which is the ordinary modern use.

Authors of Menologion of Basil II (circa 985 AC, Constantinople), Byzantine manuscript illuminators[1]: Pantoleon with Georgios, Michael the Younger, Michael of Blachernae, Symeon, Symeon of Blachernae, Menas, and Nestor (Online on Vatican site) · Public domain

Definitions of martyrdom

  1. 1nounmartyrdomDeath or great suffering endured for a belief.C1

    “His martyrdom made the cause far stronger than his life had.”

martyrdom is a suffering.

Where it comes from

Old English martyrdom comes from Greek martys, a witness.

  1. Old English

    martyrdōm — martyrdom

  2. Middle English

    martyrdome

  3. English, today

    martyrdom

From Middle English martyrdome, martirdom, marterdom, from Old English martyrdōm (“martyrdom”), corresponding to martyr + dom. Cognate with German Märtyrertum (“martyrdom”), Danish martyrdom (“martyrdom”), Swedish martyrdom (“martyrdom”), Norwegian martyrdom (“martyrdom”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

martyrdom in the wild

  • In the martyrdom narrative of the remembering community, this refusal to comply with the presented demands results in the punishment or execution of an individual by an oppressor.

    Martyr

  • The full account of his martyrdom comes from the Passio Sancti Sebastiani, a 5th-century text written by an anonymous author, possibly Arnobius the Younger.

    Saint Sebastian

  • The letter takes influence from both Jewish martyrdom texts in the Old Testament and the Gospels.

    Martyrdom of Polycarp

  • The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian is a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci showing the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian.

    The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian (Leonardo)

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.