Etymologically
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mortality

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 17 October 2026 at 15:54. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /mɔɹˈtælɪti/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mortalite, borrowed from Old French mortalite (“massacre, slaughter; fatal illness”) and directly Latin mortālitās (“state of being mortal”),[2][3][4] from mortālis (“subject to death”) (see mortal),[2][3] from mors (“death”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to rub away, harm; to die”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The condition of being subject to death: the mid-14th century in Etymonline, before 1340 in the OED.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Death on a large scale, as in war or plague, is from about 1400.[2][5] The number of deaths from a cause or in a given period is from the 1640s,[2][5] later especially in proportion to population, as in mortality rate.[2] Deadliness or power to kill is from 1430–40, and mortals collectively, humankind, from about 1601.[5][6]

Timeline

  • before 1340 – the condition of being mortal.[5]
  • c. 1400 – widespread death.[2][5]
  • 1645 – the number of deaths.[5]
  • 1665 – mortality bill, rate, table.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The condition of being mortal, subject to death.
  2. Loss of life on a large scale, as in war or disaster.
  3. The number of deaths in a given period or place; the death rate.
  4. The rate of failure or loss of something.

Word family

  • mortality table

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  4. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, 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. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins