mortal

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈmɔː.təl/ (UK); /ˈmɔɹ.təl/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mortal, borrowed from Old French mortal (also mortel (“destined to die”)) and directly Latin mortālis (“subject to death”),^[2][3][4] from mors (“death”) (stem mort-),^[2][3] from Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to rub away, harm; to die”),^[3][4] also the source of Ancient Greek βροτός (brotós, “mortal”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Subject to death: about 1374 in the OED, about 1380 in Barnhart; deadly or grievous about 1370 in Barnhart; all first found in Chaucer.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

Causing death, deadly, is from about 1385,^[5] now used only of diseases and wounds.^[5] Of a sin, deserving damnation, it is from the 15th century.^[4] Trench notes that the active sense, deadly, has nearly departed from mortal, while the passive has departed from deadly.^[6] The noun, a human being in contrast with an immortal, is from 1567,^[5][3] used playfully for a person from 1718.^[5] As an intensive, every mortal thing, it is colloquial and dialectal.^[7][8]

Timeline

• c. 1370 – deadly, grievous.^[2]
• c. 1374 – subject to death.^[5]
• 15th century – mortal sin.^[4]
• 1567 – a mortal (noun).^[5]
• 1718 – a person (playful).^[5]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Subject to death; not immortal.
2. Causing death; fatal: a mortal wound.
3. Deadly or unrelenting: a mortal enemy.
4. Very great or intense: in mortal fear.

Noun

1. A human being, as opposed to a god.

Word family

• mortally
• nonmortal
• postmortal
• premortal
• mortality
• mortal sin

Related words

• moribund
• immortal
• murder
• mortgage
• mortify

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)