mortality English · revision 15265

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=mid-14th century|origins=ine-pro *mer-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɔɹˈtælɪti/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|mortalite]], [[bor|fro|mortalite|t=massacre, slaughter; fatal illness]] and directly [[la|mortālitās|t=state of being mortal]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998) from [[m|la|mortālis|t=subject to death]] (see [[mortal]]),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[m|la|mors|t=death]], from [[ine-pro|*mer-|t=to rub away, harm; to die]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The condition of being subject to death: the mid-14th century in Etymonline, before 1340 in the OED.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Death on a large scale, as in war or plague, is from about 1400.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The number of deaths from a cause or in a given period is from the 1640s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) later especially in proportion to population, as in ''mortality rate''.^(Etymonline) Deadliness or power to kill is from 1430–40, and mortals collectively, humankind, from about 1601.^(OED 1989)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1340 – the condition of being mortal.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1400 – widespread death.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1645 – the number of deaths.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1665 – mortality bill, rate, table.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The condition of being [[mortal]], subject to [[death]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Loss of life on a large scale, as in war or [[disaster]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The number of deaths in a given period or place; the death rate.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The rate of failure or loss of something.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mortality table]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mortal]]

+ * [[immortality]]

+ * [[mortician]]

+ * [[murder]]

+ * [[mortgage]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}