- mortify
- 1382, "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 c.1412. Sense of "humiliate" first recorded 1645 in mortification (which is attested c.1386 in its base sense of "mortifying the flesh").