mortal

[mawr-tl] /ˈmɔr tl/
adjective
1.
subject to death; having a transitory life:
all mortal creatures.
2.
of or pertaining to human beings as subject to death; human:
this mortal life.
3.
belonging to this world.
4.
deadly or implacable; relentless:
a mortal enemy.
5.
severe, dire, grievous, or bitter:
in mortal fear.
6.
causing or liable to cause death; fatal:
a mortal wound.
7.
to the death:
mortal combat.
8.
of or pertaining to death:
the mortal hour.
9.
involving spiritual death (opposed to venial):
mortal sin.
10.
long and wearisome.
11.
extreme; very great:
in a mortal hurry.
12.
conceivable; possible:
of no mortal value to the owners.
noun
13.
a human being.
14.
the condition of being subject to death.
Origin
1325-75; Middle English < Latin mortālis, equivalent to mort- (stem of mors) death + -ālis -al1
Related forms
mortally, adverb
nonmortal, adjective, noun
nonmortally, adverb
postmortal, adjective
postmortally, adverb
premortal, adjective
premortally, adverb
unmortal, adjective
Synonyms
6. See fatal.
Examples from the web for mortal
  • Sure, I had a kid's understanding that mortal life ends.
  • Sperm whales and giant squid may be mortal enemies.
  • Robert Frost talked about making his vocation and his avocation one, and about his work being play for mortal stakes.
  • Then he banished him from Olympus, and he made him put off his divinity and appear as a mortal man.
  • At age 78, this Broadway legend is mortal, but she is never mere.
  • But Wooden lived on for 25 years, a mortal former coach with eternal influence.
  • No mortal should presume to play so faultlessly.
  • His corpulence is the physical embodiment of all seven mortal sins.
  • They know mortal threat when they see one.
  • But she had committed a mortal sin of sport.
British Dictionary definitions for mortal

mortal

/ˈmɔːtəl/
adjective
1.
(of living beings, esp human beings) subject to death
2.
of or involving life or the world
3.
ending in or causing death; fatal: a mortal blow
4.
deadly or unrelenting: a mortal enemy
5.
of or like the fear of death; dire: mortal terror
6.
great or very intense: mortal pain
7.
possible: there was no mortal reason to go
8.
(slang) long and tedious: for three mortal hours
noun
9.
a mortal being
10.
(informal) a person: a mean mortal
Derived Forms
mortally, adverb
Word Origin
C14: from Latin mortālis, from mors death
Word Origin and History for mortal
adj.

mid-14c., "deadly," also "doomed to die," from Old French mortel "destined to die; deserving of death," from Latin mortalis "subject to death, mortal, of a mortal, human," from mors (genitive mortis) "death," from PIE base *mer- "to die," with derivatives referring to death and human beings" (cf. Sanskrit mrtih "death," martah "mortal man;" Avestan miryeite "dies," Old Persian martiya- "man;" Armenian meranim "die;" Latin mori "to die;" Lithuanian mirtis "mortal man;" Greek brotos "mortal" (hence ambrotos "immortal"); Old Church Slavonic mrutvu "dead;" Old Irish marb, Welsh marw "died;" Old English morþ "murder"). The most widespread Indo-European root for "to die," forming the common word for it except in Greek and Germanic. Watkins says it is "possibly" the same as PIE *mer- "rub, pound, wear away" (see morbid).

n.

"mortal thing or substance," 1520s, from mortal (adj.). Latin mortalis also was used as a noun, "a man, mortal, human being."

mortal in Medicine

mortal mor·tal (môr'tl)
adj.

  1. Liable or subject to death.

  2. Causing death; fatal.