Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Mortify
Mor′ti-fy
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Mortified
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Mortifying
.] 1.
To destroy the organic texture and vital functions of; to produce gangrene in.
2.
To destroy the active powers or essential qualities of; to change by chemical action.
[Obs.]
Chaucer.
Quicksilver is
mortified
with turpentine. Bacon.
He
mortified
pearls in vinegar. Hakewill.
3.
To deaden by religious or other discipline, as the carnal affections, bodily appetites, or worldly desires; to bring into subjection; to abase; to humble;
as, to
. mortify
the fleshWith fasting
mortified
, worn out with tears. Harte.
Mortify
thy learned lust. Prior.
Mortify
, therefore, your members which are upon the earth. Col. iii. 5.
4.
To affect with vexation, chagrin; to depress.
The news of the fatal battle of Worcester, which exceedingly
mortified
our expectations. Evelyn.
How often is the ambitious man
mortified
with the very praises he receives, if they do not rise so high as he thinks they ought! Addison.
Mor′ti-fy
,Verb.
I.
1.
To lose vitality and organic structure, as flesh of a living body; to gangrene.
2.
To practice penance from religious motives; to deaden desires by religious discipline.
This makes him . . . give alms of all that he hath, watch, fast, and
mortify
. Law.
3.
To be subdued; to decay, as appetites, desires, etc.
Webster 1828 Edition
Mortify
MOR'TIFY
,Verb.
T.
1.
To destroy the organic texture and vital functions of some part of a living animal; to change to sphacelus or gangrene. Extreme inflammation speedily mortifies flesh.2.
To subdue or bring into subjection, as the bodily appetites by abstinence or rigorous severities. We mortify ourselves with fish.
With fasting mortified, worn out with tears.
3.
To subdue; to abase; to humble; to reduce; to restrain; as inordinate passions. Mortify thy learned lust.
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth. Col.3.
4.
To humble; to depress; to affect with slight vexation. How often is the ambitious man mortified with the very praises he receives, if they do not rise so high as he thinks they ought.
He is controlled by a nod, mortified by a frown, and transported with a smile.
5.
To destroy active powers or essential qualities. He mortified pearls in vinegar--
Quicksilver--mortified with turpentine.
[I believe this application is not now in use.]
MOR'TIFY
,Verb.
I.
1.
To be subdued.2.
To practice severities and penance from religious motives. This makes him give alms of all that he hath, watch, fast and mortify.
Definition 2024
mortify
mortify
English
Verb
mortify (third-person singular simple present mortifies, present participle mortifying, simple past and past participle mortified)
- (obsolete, transitive) To kill. [14th–17th c.]
- (obsolete) To reduce the potency of; to nullify; to deaden, neutralize. [14th–18th c.]
- Francis Bacon
- Quicksilver is mortified with turpentine.
- Hakewill
- He mortified pearls in vinegar.
- Francis Bacon
- (obsolete, transitive) To kill off (living tissue etc.); to make necrotic. [15th–18th c.]
- 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, II.3:
- Servius the Grammarian being troubled with the gowt, found no better meanes to be rid of it, than to apply poison to mortifie [transl. tuer] his legs.
- 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essayes, London: Edward Blount, OCLC 946730821, II.3:
- To discipline (one's body, appetites etc.) by suppressing desires; to practise abstinence on. [from 15th c.]
- Some people seek sainthood by mortifying the body.
- Harte
- With fasting mortified, worn out with tears.
- Prior
- Mortify thy learned lust.
- Bible, Col. iii. 5
- Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth.
- (usually used passively) To embarrass, to humiliate. To injure one's dignity. [from 17th c.]
- I was so mortified I could have died right there, instead I fainted, but I swore I'd never let that happen to me again.
- 1898, Winston Churchill, chapter 5, in The Celebrity:
- Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better.
- (obsolete) To affect with vexation, chagrin, or humiliation; to humble; to depress.
- Evelyn
- the news of the fatal battle of Worcester, which exceedingly mortified our expectations
- Addison
- How often is the ambitious man mortified with the very praises he receives, if they do not rise so high as he thinks they ought!
- Evelyn
- (Scotland, law, historical) To grant in mortmain
- 1876 James Grant, History of the Burgh and Parish Schools of Scotland, Part II, Chapter 14, p.453 (PDF 2.7 MB):
- the schoolmasters of Ayr were paid out of the mills mortified by Queen Mary
- 1876 James Grant, History of the Burgh and Parish Schools of Scotland, Part II, Chapter 14, p.453 (PDF 2.7 MB):
Related terms
Synonyms
- (to discipline oneself by suppressing desires): macerate
- (to injure one's dignity): demean, humiliate, shame
Antonyms
Translations
to discipline by suppressing desires
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to injure one's dignity
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