- mortify
- late 14c., "to kill," from O.Fr. mortifier, from L.L. mortificare "cause death," from mortificus "producing death," from L. mors (gen. mortis) "death" (see mortal) + root of facere "to make" (see factitious). Religious sense of "to subdue the flesh by abstinence and discipline" first attested early 15c. Sense of "humiliate" first recorded 1640s (in mortification). Related: Mortified; mortifying.