mortify
pronunciation
How to pronounce mortify in British English:
UK [ˈmɔ:tɪfaɪ]
How to pronounce mortify in American English:
US [ˈmɔrtɪfaɪ]
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- Verb:
- practice self-denial of one's body and appetites
- hold within limits and control
- cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of
- undergo necrosis
Word Origin
- mortify (v.)
- late 14c., "to kill," from Old French mortefiier "destroy, overwhelm, punish," from Late Latin mortificare "cause death, kill, put to death," literally "make dead," from mortificus "producing death," from Latin mors (genitive mortis) "death" (see mortal (adj.)) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Religious sense of "to subdue the flesh by abstinence and discipline" first attested early 15c. Sense of "humiliate" first recorded 1690s (compare mortification). Related: Mortified; mortifying.
Example
- 1. Learn to mortify your intelligence .
- 2. The thing he doesn 't realize is that it would mortify erin so she would never tell .
- 3. The teacher is mortify by his own inability to answer such a simple question .
- 4. And now I 've told you a story that would so mortify her .
- 5. It would mortify my soul if I should be thought to disgrace you .