Etymology

martyr

mar·tyr
M3A1R1T1Y4R1

Today it means: One who willingly accepts being put to death or willingly accepts challenging and exposing iniquity done to oneself for adhering openly to one's religious beliefs; notably, saints canonized after red martyrdom. Full definition →

Middle English martir ← Old English martyr ← Ecclesiastical Latin martyr
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromμάρτυρ
  2. Ecclesiastical Latin · derived frommartyr
  3. Old English · inherited frommartyr
  4. Middle English · inherited frommartir
  5. English todaymartyr

From Middle English martir, from Old English martyr, itself a borrowing from Ecclesiastical Latin martyr, from Ancient Greek μάρτυρ (mártur), later form of μάρτυς (mártus, “witness”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.