Wiktionary

mortal

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English mortal, mortel, from Old French mortal, and their source Latin mortālis, from mors (“death”). Partly displaced native deadly, from Old English dēadlīċ.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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mortal (comparative more mortal, superlative most mortal)

  1. Susceptible to death by aging, sickness, injury, or wound; not immortal. [from 14th c.]
  2. Causing death; deadly, fatal, killing, lethal (now only of wounds, injuries etc.). [from 14th c.]
  3. Punishable by death.
  4. Fatally vulnerable.
  5. Of or relating to the time of death.
  6. Affecting as if with power to kill; deathly.
    mortal enemy
    • 1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
      The nymph grew pale, and in a mortal fright.
    • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:
      I was in mortal fear lest the captain should repent of his confessions and make an end of me.
    • 2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 13:20 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?‎[1], archived from the original on 3 November 2022:
      Although the Japanese have engaged with little hesitation, they are as surprised as the Americans to be fighting this battle. Although the escort-carrier groups have been under sporadic air attack for over a week, these attacks appear to have been conducted by aircraft from the Japanese Army, who, of course, have utterly failed to mention any of this to their counterparts-dash-rivals-dash-mortal enemies in the Imperial Japanese Navy.
  7. Human; belonging or pertaining to people who are mortal.
    mortal wit or knowledge; mortal power
    • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
      The voice of God
      To mortal ear is dreadful.
    • 2012, Olivia Gates, Immortal, Insatiable, Indomitable, Harlequin, →ISBN:
      “It's just...I hesitated to call the police. I wasn't sure you'd appreciate their presence.” He sure wouldn't. Mortal scum he could dispatch. Mortal law enforcement he avoided at all costs […]
  8. Very painful or tedious; wearisome.
    a sermon lasting two mortal hours
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Walter Scott to this entry?)
  9. (Scotland, Geordie, slang) Very drunk.
    Synonym: mortalled
    • 1995, Alan Warner, Morvern Callar, Vintage, published 2015, page 13:
      Thats[sic] nothing, says Tequila Sheila, who told how the summer she was housemaid in The Saint Columba she took this guy back to the staff flats while mortal on slammers and crashed out on him before anything could happen.
  10. (religion, of a sin) Causing spiritual death.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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  • (antonym(s) of “susceptible to death”): immortal, everlasting
  • (antonym(s) of “of or relating to death”): natal, vital
  • (antonym(s) of “causing death”): vital
  • (antonym(s) of “causing spiritual death”): venial

Derived terms

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Translations

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Noun

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mortal (plural mortals)

  1. A human; someone susceptible to death.
    Antonym: immortal
    Her wisdom was beyond that of a mere mortal.
    • c. 1595–1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “A Midsommer Nights Dreame”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals):
      Lord what fools these mortals be!
    • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter 1, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:
      But then I had the flintlock by me for protection.
      There were giants in the days when that gun was made; for surely no modern mortal could have held that mass of metal steady to his shoulder. The linen-press and a chest on the top of it formed, however, a very good gun-carriage; and, thus mounted, aim could be taken out of the window […].

Derived terms

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Translations

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Adverb

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mortal (not comparable)

  1. (colloquial) Mortally; enough to cause death.
    It's mortal cold out there.

Asturian

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /moɾˈtal/, [moɾˈt̪al]

Adjective

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mortal (epicene, plural mortales)

  1. mortal (susceptible to death)
  2. mortal (causing death; deadly; fatal; killing)
  3. deadly (lethal)
    Synonym: mortíferu

Catalan

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin mortālis.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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mortal m or f (masculine and feminine plural mortals)

  1. mortal
    Antonym: immortal
  2. deadly, lethal
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Noun

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mortal m or f by sense (plural mortals)

  1. mortal

Further reading

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Galician

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Etymology

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From Old Galician-Portuguese mortal, and their source Latin mortālis, from mors (“death”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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mortal m or f (plural mortais)

  1. (not comparable) susceptible to death; mortal
    Antonym: inmortal
  2. (comparable) prone to cause death; deadly; lethal; fatal
    Synonym: mortífero

Derived terms

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Noun

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mortal m or f by sense (plural mortais)

  1. a mortal, a human (someone susceptible to death)
    Antonym: inmortal

Noun

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mortal m or f (plural mortais)

  1. (gymnastics) a somersault
    Synonyms: pinchacarneiro, reviravolta

References

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Interlingua

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Adjective

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mortal (not comparable)

  1. mortal (liable to die)
    Illo es un mortal wombat, illo decomponera etiam.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)
  2. mortal (causing death)
    Un mortal wombat attaccava ille.
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)
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Italian

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Noun

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mortal m or f by sense (apocopated)

  1. Apocopic form of mortale

Piedmontese

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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mortal

  1. mortal
  2. deadly, lethal

Portuguese

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Etymology

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From Old Galician-Portuguese mortal, and their source Latin mortālis, from mors (“death”). By surface analysis, morte +‎ -al.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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mortal m or f (plural mortais, comparable, comparative mais mortal, superlative o mais mortal or mortalíssimo)

  1. (not comparable) susceptible to death; mortal
    Antonym: imortal
  2. (comparable) prone to cause death; deadly; lethal; fatal

Derived terms

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Noun

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mortal m or f by sense (plural mortais)

  1. a mortal, a human (someone susceptible to death)
    Antonym: imortal
  2. (gymnastics) a somersault

Derived terms

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Further reading

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Romanian

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin mortalis or Italian mortale. By surface analysis, mort +‎ -al.

Adjective

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mortal m or n (feminine singular mortală, masculine plural mortali, feminine and neuter plural mortale)

  1. mortal, deadly

Declension

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Declension of mortal
singular plural
masculine neuter feminine masculine neuter feminine
nominative/
accusative 		indefinite mortal mortală mortali mortale
definite mortalul mortala mortalii mortalele
genitive/
dative 		indefinite mortal mortale mortali mortale
definite mortalului mortalei mortalilor mortalelor

Spanish

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Etymology

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From Latin mortālis.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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mortal m or f (masculine and feminine plural mortales)

  1. deadly
  2. mortal
    Antonym: inmortal

Derived terms

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Further reading

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