mortaladj.adv.

Brit.

/ˈmɔːtl/, U.S.

/ˈmɔrdl/

Forms: Middle English mortail, Middle English mortaile, Middle English mortaill, Middle English mortale, Middle English mortalle, Middle English mortayle, Middle English morteil, Middle English mortel, Middle English mortele, Middle English mortiel, Middle English–1600s mortall, Middle English–1600s mortell, Middle English– mortal, 1800s mortial; English regional 1800s martal, 1800s mortel, 1800s mort'l, 1800s mottal, 1800s– martel, 1800s– martil, 1800s– martle, 1800s– morthal (Manx English), 1800s– mortial, 1800s– mortle, 1800s– mo'tal, 1800s– mwortal, 1900s– mortul; Scottish pre-1700 mortaill, pre-1700 mortale, pre-1700 mortall, pre-1700 mortalle, pre-1700 morteill, pre-1700 morteille, pre-1700 mortell, pre-1700 mortelle, pre-1700 mortil, pre-1700 1700s– mortal, 1900s– mortial, 1900s– mortyal, 1900s– mortyel; also Irish English 1800s– morshul, 1800s– mortial, 1900s– mortkal, 1900s– mortyal, 1900s– mortyel.

Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French mortal; Latin mortālis.

Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman and Middle French mortal, mortel subject to death, causing death, relating to death (late 10th cent. in Old French; French mortel ), and their etymon (ii) classical Latin mortālis subject to death, human, transient, in post-classical Latin also causing death (from Vetus Latina), relating to death (from 4th cent.) < mort- , mors death (see mort n.¹) + -ālis -al suffix¹.With mortal enemy (see sense A. 1a) compare Anglo-Norman mortal enemi , Old French mortel enemi (c1100), classical Latin hostis mortalis ; with mortal battle (see sense A. 1b) compare Old French mortel bataille (c1100); with mortal enmity , mortal hatred (see sense A. 1c) compare Old French mortel häine (1155), classical Latin mortalis inimicitia . With bed mortal (see sense A. 5) compare Old French lit mortel (late 12th cent.), post-classical Latin mortale feretrum funeral bier (5th cent.). With mortal sin (see sense A. 6) compare Old French pekié mortal (early 13th cent.), post-classical Latin mortale crimen , mortalia delicta (3rd cent.), mortale peccatum (4th cent.). Sense A. 7c is recorded in French from the 17th cent.; compare such phrases as quinze mortels jours, etc.

A. adj.

1. Seeking to bring about the destruction of an adversary.

a. Of an enemy: that will be satisfied only with the death of the foe; implacable, unappeasable. Frequently in mortal enemy, mortal foe. Also figurative.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > hatred > enemy > [adjective] > (of a foe) relentless or implacable

mortalc1385

the mind > emotion > compassion > pitilessness > [adjective] > merciless > unrelenting > of an enemy

mortalc1385

c1385 G. Chaucer Knight's Tale 1590 For I am Palamon thy mortal [v.r. mortel] foo.

a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. 2027 To grieve his mortiel enemy.

c1429 Mirour Mans Saluacioune (1986) l. 2072 Saul laide for his dethe als for hys mortale enemy.

c1450 J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte 3134 But that they be..Mortal foon to chastite.

c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 116 He suld..hald him..for his jnymy mortall.

1579 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 60 The mortallest enemy I have in this world?

1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. vi. 20 The mortallest enemy unto knowledge.

1743 E. Young Complaint: Night the Fifth 9 Pleasure and Pride, by Nature mortal Foes.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iv. 445 Halifax was the mortal enemy of despotism and of Popery.

a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. xx. 453 Other peoples meet a new idea as if it were a mortal foe; the Parisians as if it were a longlost friend.

1994 Guardian 14 June i. 16/5 The long-haired, furrowed-forehead Klingons, once mortal enemies of Captain Kirk, but now among the friendlies in the new version of Star Trek.

b. Of war, a battle, etc.: fought to the death. Now usually in mortal combat. Also figurative.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective] > of battle

mortalc1387

battle mort?1553

c1387–95 G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. 61 At mortal [v.r. mortaill] batailles hadde he been fiftene.

c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xviii. 290 The kynde is of a knyȝt oþer for a kynge to be take among here enemys in morteils [v.r. morteil, mortele, mortail, mortel] bateles.

c1450 Siege Thebes (Rawl.) in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1913) 130 50 (MED) He fonde hem fighting togidre in ful mortall wise.

c1500 Melusine (1895) 144 There bygan a mortal medlee.

1548 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1814) II. 481/1 The mortall weiris, crudeliteis, depredatiounis and intollerabill iniuris.

1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets xlvi. sig. D2^v Mine eye and heart are at a mortall warre, How to deuide the conquest of thy sight.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 125 The shocking Squadrons meet in mortal Fight.

1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe I. ix. 165 All stood astonished at his presumption, but none more than the redoubted Knight whom he had thus defied to mortal combat.

1855 J. L. Motley Rise Dutch Republic III. v. v. 325 The mortal combat between the Inquisition and the Reformation was already fully engaged.

1914 E. R. Burroughs Tarzan of Apes xxviii. 392 That other day in far distant Africa, when Tarzan of the Apes had closed in mortal combat with the great anthropoid—Terkoz.

1983 Action Man Ann. 1984 78/2 Rangers set off in pairs in Space Speeders to engage the invading fleets in mortal combat.

c. Of enmity, hatred, etc.: pursued to the death; unappeasable, unrelenting, deadly. Hence figurative or hyperbolically, as mortal aversion, etc.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > hatred > [adjective] > relating to deadly enmity

mortalc1425

feudal1805

the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective] > of hate or enmity

deadlyc1275

capital1395

mortalc1425

c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iv. 4423 (MED) Þe dede cors to hem þei denye..of mortal enmyte Þat of houndis it shal deuoured be.

a1500 (?a1422) J. Lydgate Life Our Lady (Adv.) in W. B. D. D. Turnbull Visions of Tundale (1843) 107 Thou Herode of malice most mortall.

1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iii. i. 69 From childly & fatherly kindnes to mortal enmity.

1587 J. Hooker Chron. Ireland 162/2 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) II Betwixt whome was a mortall hatred.

1665 W. Temple Let. to Sir J. Temple in Wks. (1731) II. 4 He has a mortal Hatred to the Dutch for their supporting his City of Munster against him.

1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome i. 462 He had a mortal Aversion to Eunuchs, that third Species of Mankind.

1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. I. xix. 459 This great and unusual act of authority in the council gave the Roman pontiffs ever after a mortal antipathy to those assemblies.

1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vi. 117 The Popish Chancellor became an object of mortal hatred.

1885 O. W. Holmes (title) A mortal antipathy.

1992 Sunday Times 2 Feb. (Books section) 2/3 [He] had a mortal aversion to meeting his tax liability.

a. Subject to death, destined to die; not immortal or supernatural.Often in the tautologically emphatic phrase mortal man.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [adjective] > liable to death

deathlyeOE

deadlyc1000

brotel1340

mortalc1390

mortuala1500

deathful?1624

mortalized1633

cadaverable1651

cadaverizable1651

c1390 G. Chaucer Parson's Tale 1078 Ther as the body, that whilom was syk, freele and feble and mortal [v.rr. mortell, dedely] is inmortal.

a1450 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe Introd. 21 Alle the conclusions..ben unknowe parfitly to eny mortal man in this regioun.

a1475 in A. Clark Eng. Reg. Godstow Nunnery (1906) ii. 509 (MED) The forsaid abbesse and Couente..warantiȝed and defended the said selde..to the said William More..ayenst all other peple mortall.

a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 40 (MED) Grete trust is not to be put in a mortall & fraile man.

1578 J. Rolland Seuin Seages 309 It was ane seiknes vncurabill, And to remeid to mortall man not abill.

1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. ii. 44 Are you all afraid? Alas, I blame you not, for you are mortall, And mortall eies cannot endure the diuell.

1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 355 No mortall man might ascend the Seat.

1667 W. Temple Let. to M. Gourville in Wks. (1731) II. 31 I begin to think that King and his Ministers are mortal like other People.

1728 E. Young Love of Fame: Universal Passion (ed. 2) vi. 174 Old-age will come; disease may come before; Fifteen is full as mortal as three-score.

1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Odyssey in Iliad & Odyssey II. xii. 95 No mortal man might climb it or descend.

1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound iv. i. 138 Whose population which the earth grew over Was mortal, but not human.

1853 M. Arnold Scholar Gipsy in Poems (new ed.) 209 For what wears out the life of mortal men?

1957 G. B. L. Wilson Dict. Ballet 230 The ballets..taking as their theme the odyssey of mortal man in love with some female spirit of the air or water.

1983 A. Mason Illusionist vii. 243 They were banished from the garden and..became mortal: prey to sickness,..old age and death.

1994 Harper's Mag. Dec. 9/2 The largest expanse of such marble known to mortal man.

b. Of or relating to human beings as subject to death or destined to die; characterized by, representing, or inextricably connected with human mortality.mortal coil: see coil n.² 4b.

ΘΚΠ

the world > people > [adjective] > opposed to divine

fleshlyc1175

mortala1475

humanc1475

earth-born1596

a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) 50 (MED) Ay the cours of thys mortal lyff Euerych hovr doth to hys boundys drawe.

1565 T. Stapleton Fortresse of Faith f. 45 This Testament is written in mens hartes,..not in tables of stone or mortall mettall.

1596 E. Spenser Fowre Hymnes 153 How then can mortall tongue hope to expresse The image of such endlesse perfectnesse?

1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. i. 69 When we haue shuffled off this mortall coyle.

1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 22 in Justa Edouardo King Fame is no plant that growes on mortall soil.

a1645 D. Featley in T. Fuller Abel Redevivus (1651) 487 About this time Queen Elizabeth exchanged her mortall crown with an immortall.

1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Palamon & Arcite ii, in Fables 28 In Brakes and Brambles hid, and shunning Mortal Sight.

1789 D. Rittenhouse Lucy Sampson iii. vii. 49 How faint is gratitude from a mortal tongue!

1839 T. Keightley Hist. Eng. II. 31 The axe descending, terminated his mortal existence.

1842 Ld. Tennyson Sir Galahad vi, in Poems (new ed.) II. 177 This mortal armour that I wear.

1843 G. Borrow Bible in Spain I. vi. 105 He..possessed the largest head which I ever beheld upon mortal shoulders.

1980 M. Robinson Housekeeping i. 5 As he was returning from some business in Spokane, his mortal and professional careers ended in a spectacular derailment.

†c. Doomed to immediate death. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [adjective] > doomed to die

feyOE

mortala1522

destined1704

a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) x. xi. 45 Gif thow askis a resput or delay,..Of this evident deyd of Turnus ȝing,..Allthocht he mortale be rycht sone we knaw.

?1624 G. Chapman Revenge for Honour iii. ii Not pledg my peerlesse Mistresse health? Souldier, thou'rt mortall, if thou refuse it.

a1639 T. Dekker et al. Witch of Edmonton (1658) iii. i. 34 Not yet mortal? I would not linger you, Or leave you a tongue to blab.

d. In weakened use (frequently with mere). Of ordinary strength, skill, etc. (often in implied contrast with others of higher status or ability); not extraordinary or superhuman.

ΚΠ

1615 W. Hull Mirrour of Majestie 51 What came ye out to see? a mere mortall man in the huffe of his ruffe?

1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. i. 67 Success, the mark no mortal wit, Or surest hand, can alwayes hit.

1767 D. Garrick Cymon i. 5 What have you done? Why, like mere mortal woman, in the true spirit of frailty, [you] have given up me and my hopes—for what?—a boy, an ideot.

1849 E. Bennett Leni-Leoti xx. 95/2 I feel I must err; for I am only mortal after all, and cannot withstand the temptation of being with those I..love.

1869 L. M. Alcott Little Women II. xxiv. 351 No mortal boy could hold out long with Father Bhaer shining on him benevolently as the sun.

1904 J. Conrad Nostromo ii. i He perceived himself elevated to a pinnacle of power and safety beyond the reach of mere mortal plotters.

1987 S. Fiffer How to watch Baseball ii. 22 The top pitchers..can throw the ball at upward of 95 miles per hour, while mere mortal pitchers generate speeds of more than 90 mph.

a. Causing death, deadly, fatal; (now) spec. of a disease, wound, or blow; frequently with to. Also figurative: destructive or very damaging.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective]

deadlyc893

deathlyOE

deathfula1250

mortalc1390

capitalc1426

exitialc1475

fey1488

mortuala1500

perishinga1500

fatal?1518

ferial1528

mortiferousa1538

deadc1540

exitious?1545

deathlike1548

mortifying1555

starvingc1600

lethal1604

speedingc1604

vital1612

irrecoverable1614

feral1621

lethiferous1651

mortific1651

mortifical1657

daggering1694

exitiose1727

fateful1764

kill-devil1831

unsurvivable1839

lethiferal1848

tachythanatous1860

the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [adjective]

fellc1330

undone1340

ruinous?a1439

violablea1470

perniciousc1475

destructive1490

confusible1502

destroying1535

exitiable1548

ruinate1562

peremptory1567

wrackful1578

slaughterous1582

ruinating1595

ruining1605

corrumpent1607

wracksome1608

in suds1611

destructory1614

poisonousa1616

wrakefulc1625

predatory1626

predatorious1641

demolishing1648

untwined1649

undoing1654

destructionable1656

destructful1659

mortal1670

wreckinga1677

fatal1692

quadrumanous1704

interdestructive1805

annihilatory1825

demolitionary1834

ruinatious1845

consumptive1860

thunderous1874

c1390 G. Chaucer Melibeus 2161 Thre of his olde foos..betten his wif and wounded his doghter with fyue mortal woundes.

c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women 2252 The Furies thre with al here mortal brond.

c1450 (?c1408) J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte (1901) 3418 This mortal beverage So noyous ys and so doutable.

1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia ii. sig. Pvii At hande strokes they vse not swordes but pollaxes, whiche be mortall, aswel in sharpenes as in weyghte.

a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) v. ii. 212 Thy father's dead, Thy match was mortall to him.

1666 Philos. Trans. 1665–6 (Royal Soc.) 1 161 It is mortal to eat of the Flesh of creatures killed by Vipers.

1670 R. Baxter Cure Church-div. Pref. sig. B I know that these principles are as mortal to the Churches, as they are to Souls.

1711 Boston News-let. 24 Dec. 2/2 They write from North-Carolina, that they are distressed there with..a Mortal Distemper.

1763 Museum Rusticum (1764) 1 lxxxiii. 369 To avoid the early frosts, which are mortal to them.

1769 E. Burke Observ. Late State Nation 15 I will shew him a fact more, that is mortal to his assertions.

1802 W. Paley Nat. Theol. xx. 393 Here therefore might seem to be a mortal defect in their constitution.

1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iii. xxix. 119 The master'd felon press'd the ground, And gasp'd beneath a mortal wound.

1833 T. De Quincey Cæsars in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 56/2 Even the more innocent exhibitions, in which brutes only were the sufferers, could not but be mortal to all the finer sensibilities.

1838 E. B. Barrett Romaunt of Page in Tait's Edinb. Mag. Nov. 682/2 Anon in the tent, and anon in the fight, [thou] Didst ward me a mortal blow.

1921 L. Strachey Queen Victoria ii. 20 The King, it was plain, could not live much longer; and the Duchess of York had been attacked by a mortal disease.

1980 Morning Post 19 May 3/4 The motion..asks for safeguards for those who..may be required to deliver a mortal wound.

1993 U.S. News & World Rep. 11 Jan. 28/2 The Rabin government had dealt ‘a mortal blow’ to the peace process.

†b. Of a period, region, etc.: characterized by many deaths. Obsolete. (Cf. mortality n. 2.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > [adjective] > characterized by many

mortala1500

a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 16 (MED) In this mortall season, thou shalt haue non other fruyte but longe tyme to be vnhappy.

a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1649 (1955) II. 565 This was a very sickly, & mortal Autumne.

1741 Lett. James Murray, Loyalist (1901) 62 So sickly and mortal a place as So. Carolina.

1775 A. Adams in J. Adams & A. Adams Familiar Lett. (1876) lix. 95 So sickly and so mortal a time the oldest man does not remember.

1803 T. R. Malthus Ess. Princ. Population (new ed.) ii. ii. 207 The years 1757 and 1758 [in Sweden], were barren, and comparatively mortal years.

1803 T. R. Malthus Ess. Princ. Population (new ed.) ii. ii. 209 Notwithstanding the mortal year of 1789, it appeared..that the general healthiness of the country had increased.

4. Of pain, grief, fear, or the like: such as might cause death; deadly in its effects. Often in hyperbolical and humorous use.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective] > such as might cause death

mortalc1425

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > very great or extreme > specifically of something bad or reprobated

woefula1400

mortalc1425

preciousc1475

fine1559

trim1569

gay1581

unconscionable1590

pocky1601

abominable1612

fearful1634

handsome1638

plaguey1694

dreadful1700

awfy1724

murrain1728

diabolical1750

deuced1782

dire1836

sinful1863

sodding1881

blooming1882

flaming1895

ruddy1896

abysmal1904

awful1916

hellishing1927

right1958

steaming1962

schwag1993

c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. 2059 (MED) My pitous and woful aventure Is to rewful, and my mortal peyne.

c1450 (c1370) G. Chaucer Complaint unto Pity 61 Sheweth unto youre rial excellence Youre servaunt..Hys mortal harm, in which he is yfalle.

a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) 13679 Lyk a bryd..Wych, in hyr gret mortal ffer..begynneth quake.

1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) xxx. 148 He thinketh long after delyveracion Of his great wo and eke mortall paynes.

1567 G. Fenton tr. M. Bandello Certaine Tragicall Disc. 553 The force of his passion assailed him still with three or four mortal pangs.

1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 477 By such meanes as hee least feared might haue procured anie such mortall distrust or danger.

1693 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Metamorphoses i, in Examen Poeticum 47 The Nymph grew pale, and in a mortal fright.

1822 W. Irving Bracebridge Hall xviii. 158 Her finery at church on Sundays has given mortal offence to her former intimates in the village.

1835 A. Alison Hist. Europe during French Revol. III. xxvi. 658 Reports of the failure of the enterprise were generally spread, and diffused the most mortal disquietude.

1879 M. Arnold Falkland in Mixed Ess. 210 The marriage gave mortal offence to his father.

1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 198 These did not have their customary effect on a novice of inspiring mortal funk, for the new pilot became furiously angry and flew Berserk.

1954 I. Murdoch Under Net x. 137 I was in mortal terror that at any moment Sadie and Sammy would come out.

1988 M. Dibdin Ratking vi. 149 She knew only too well which letter he was talking about and was in mortal dread of the family finding out.

†5. Relating to, connected with, or accompanying death. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > death > [adjective] > relating to death

mortalc1425

deadly1470

capitalc1475

mortuary1542

parting?1570

deada1586

defunctive1601

lethal1607

deathly1763

deathya1822

c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. 422 (MED) Trist and hevy..So astoned with þis mortal tale, Þat his desyre was to haue ben ded.

a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) 1966 (MED) Allas! þat þou thyn excellent prudence, In þi bed mortel mightist naght by-qwethe.

1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 154 When he [sc. Diogenes] was awaked out of his mortal slepe, that is to saye, the last that euer he had before his death.

1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. III. 79 To reade nothing but pittifull Stories, and mortall Predictions.

a1682 Sir T. Browne Let. to Friend (1690) 5 All these, with many more, were so drowned in a mortal Visage and last face of Hippocrates, that [etc.].

1702 R. Steele Funeral i. 4 This Fellow has a good mortal Look—place him near the Corps.

1733 A. Pope Ess. Man (rev. ed.) i. 280 Safe in the hand of one disposing Pow'r, Or in the natal, or the mortal Hour.

1815 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone i. 21 A tale of tears, a mortal story!

1822 P. B. Shelley Hellas 42 Thou see'st the mortal throes Of that whose birth was but the same.

1871 J. Morley Condorcet in Crit. Misc. (1878) 1st Ser. 38 The mortal struggles of a society in revolution.

a. Theology. Of sin or a sin: entailing spiritual death; depriving the soul of divine grace. Opposed to venial. Cf. deadly adj. 5.

ΘΚΠ

society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > sin > kinds of sin > [adjective] > mortal

headlyOE

headOE

deadly?c1225

mortala1475

lethal1583

unvenial?1589

a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) 12486 (MED) Dedly synne..ycallyd ys mortal Be-cause hys hurtys ffynally Ben in effect verray dedly.

?c1500 Digby Plays 47 Ther be vij mortall synnes.

?a1525 (?a1475) Play Sacrament l. 893 in N. Davis Non-Cycle Plays & Fragm. (1970) 85 We haue offenddyd sorowfully in a syn mortall.

?1566 (title) Whether it be mortall sinne to transgresse ciuil lawes which be the commaundements of ciuill Magistrates.

a1602 W. Perkins Cases of Consc. (1609) i. ii. 10 Now though euery sinne of it selfe be mortall, yet all are not equally mortall: but some more, some lesse.

1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iii. 215 Mans mortal crime.

1737 R. Challoner Catholick Christian Instructed ix. 116 By what Rule shall a Person be able to make a Judgment whether his Sins be mortal or venial?

1887 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. VI. 266 The Church had pronounced it to be a sin of that ‘mortal’ kind which excludes from heaven.

1920 K. E. Kirk Some Princs. Moral Theol. xi. 250 Any sinful act or habit.., which is known to be gravely at variance with the moral purpose of life, and yet which is deliberately committed or persisted in, is mortal.

1983 G. Grisez Way of Lord Jesus I. xv. 365 Those who commit and remain in mortal sin..evict the Holy Spirit from their hearts.

1987 M. Collins Angel vi. 107 Missing church on Sundays was a mortal sin.

b. figurative.

ΚΠ

1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) ii. 66 b If the fault in wordes be veniall, the fault in sentence and matter is mortall.

1769 D. Garrick Let. 27 Aug. (1963) II. 661 The exorbitant price that some of y^e People ask, will Effect the whole Jubilee, and rise up a mortal Sin against us.

1968 Listener 10 Oct. 469/2 To speak well of the past was a mortal sin and got you into trouble with the party theologians and eventually with the police.

7. In colloquial, regional, and slang uses.

a. colloquial. As an emphatic expletive (with any, every, or a negative, frequently qualifying thing). Cf. earthly adj. 1b.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [adjective]

possiblec1384

possibly1542

resortible1586

feasible1611

mortal1616

maybe1687

poss1853

1616 B. Jonson Epicœne iv. v, in Wks. I. 580 Cle. Shall I goe fetch the ladies to the catastrophe?..Dav. By no mortall meanes.

1843 F. A. Kemble Rec. Later Life III. 36 I have every mortal thing to pack with my own single pair of hands.

1892 Daily News 19 Nov. 5/4 We have the authority of Sir James Sawyer for saying that ‘we may eat any mortal thing we like’.

a1933 J. Galsworthy End of Chapter (1934) i. xxiv. 200 Every mortal thing's against you, from Death Duties down to gramophones.

1955 W. H. Auden Shield of Achilles i. 24 Why should I give Lake Eden to the Nation Just because every mortal Jack and Jill has been The genius of some amniotic mere?

1981 J. Gardam Hollow Land ii. 24 He knew every mortal thing you did, Mrs Teesdale said, even before you had done it.

b. Extremely great, huge; extreme, excessive. Cf. deadly adj. 8a. Now archaic or regional.Apparently arising from hyperbolical or humorous applications of senses A. 1 and A. 4.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > very great or extreme

strangec1380

overpassinga1382

passinga1387

most?c1430

extremec1460

horriblea1464

violenta1500

mainc1540

immortal?c1550

exquisite1552

sore1555

three-piled1598

thundering1618

devilish1639

shrewda1643

deadly1660

woundy1681

vast1696

monstrous1711

mortal1716

terrific1743

hell-fired1754

hellish1764

colossal1794

severe1805

awful1818

all-fired1829

terrible1829

quare and1847

ferocious1877

pluperfect1889

raging1889

giddy1896

utter1898

stiff1905

1716 Lady Cowper Diary (1864) 69 Lord Nottingham and the Duchess of Roxburgh take mortal pains to make the Princess think well of the Tories.

1762 I. Bickerstaff Love in Village (1765) i. vi. 12 I never saw such a mortal throng in our village in all my born days again.

a1777 S. Foote Nabob (1778) ii. 38 They do a mortal deal of harm in the country.

1853 C. Dickens Bleak House v. 38 I was a mortal sight younger then.

1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. xv. 140 Well, it ain't that I'm in a mortal hurry.

1900 Cornhill Mag. Sept. 313 'Tis a mortal sight o' taters as is here among ye.

1993 ‘E. Peters’ Holy Thief (BNC) 87 ‘And they made off southerly?’ asked Cadfael... ‘Southwest... And in a mortal hurry by all the signs.’

c. slang. Long and tedious.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > wearisome or tedious > tediously long

elengec897

longOE

longsomea1400

infinite1585

long-winded1645

mortal1758

everlasting1761

longful1777

eternal1787

1758 A. Smith Let. 19 Aug. in Corr. (1977) xxvi. 25 I..have been looking in the map and find Minto above three score mortal miles from Glasgow the nearest way that I can go to it.

1820 W. Scott Monastery III. v. 134 The interior one..occupied them for three mortal hours.

1842 E. Bulwer-Lytton Zanoni Introd. 19 And so on for 940 mortal pages in foolscap!

1878 R. L. Stevenson Inland Voy. 232 The marionettes..performed a piece, called Pyramus and Thisbe, in five mortal acts.

1910 E. Wharton Let. 3 Oct. (1988) 222 Here have we been waiting ten mortal days, in infernal heat.

1974 U. K. Le Guin Dispossessed (1975) xiii. 311 Sadik had been trainsick for three mortal days.

d. English regional (northern) and Scottish. Completely drunk, dead drunk. Cf. sense B.

ΚΠ

1796 E. Fremantle Jrnl. 10 Oct. in A. Fremantle Wynne Diaries (1952) xix. 257 Dined with Montresor and got mortal..& fell asleep.

1824 J. Mactaggart Sc. Gallovidian Encycl. 54 He was often carried home to his crue, on a hand-barrow, just mortal.

1867 A. Dawson Rambling Recoll. (1868) 21 They had tasted of the bottles of the whole fifteen by which time they were one and all of them ‘mortal’.

1891 J. M. Barrie Little Minister II. xxiv. 167 He doesna strike me except when he's mortal.

1995 A. Warner Morvern Callar (1996) 7 Then she goes, since we were off for three day would I come to The Mantrap and get mortal after closedown?

B. adv.

= mortally adv. In later use colloquial and regional: extremely, excessively. Cf. deadly adv. 4. mortal drunk n. dead drunk.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > extremely or exceedingly > excessively

cruellyc1385

overa1400

fullc1400

parlouslyc1425

mortalc1440

perilousc1440

spitefulc1450

devilish1560

pestilently1567

spitefully1567

cruel1573

parlous1575

deadly1589

intolerable?1593

fellc1600

perditlya1632

excessively1634

devilishly1635

desperate1636

woundya1639

woundlya1644

desperately1653

wicked1663

killing1672

woundily1706

wounded1753

mortally1759

dreadful1762

intolerably1768

perishing1776

tremendously1776

terrifically1777

diabolically1792

woundedly1794

thundering1809

all-firedly1833

preponderously1835

painfully1839

deadlilya1843

severely1854

furiously1856

diabolish1858

fiendish1861

demonish1867

sinfully1869

fiendishly1879

thunderingly1885

only too1889

nightmarishly1891

God almighty1906

Christ almighty1945

c1440 (c1390) G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale (BL Add.) 406 Mortall [v.r. mortaill; Heng: But this scorpion..The Sowdanesse..Caste vnder this ful mortally to stynge].

c1450 (?c1408) J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte (1901) 3665 The pereyl ys so mortal strong.

c1500 Melusine (1895) 175 The batayll was there mortall fyers & doubtous for bothe partyes.

1753 Bp. W. Warburton Lett. (1809) 156 St. John's well, after the name of a mortal cold bath in Nottinghamshire.

1778 S. Burney Let. 16 July in F. Burney Early Diary (1889) II. 247 She is mortal fond of the book, and has got it by heart.

1784 R. Bage Barham Downs I. 9 A mortal rich gentleman.

1816 Ld. Byron Siege of Corinth xxi. 32 Though slight was that grasp so mortal cold.

1846 W. Cross Disruption xxvi. 289 The mistress of the house was ‘mortal drunk’ in bed.

1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset I. xxxiii. 286 I wouldn't speak if I warn't well nigh mortial sure.

1884 ‘M. Twain’ Lett. to Publishers 23 May (1967) 175 I am mortal glad to hear you have got everything squared up with Osgood.

1896 Brechin Advertiser 28 Jan. 3 I didna like to see the three gettin' mortal drunk.

1936 J. Buchan Island of Sheep ii. 28 The white-fronts and the pink-foot [geese]..had been mortal hard to get near.

1955 S. H. Adams Grandfather Stories 300 A poppet [sic] show of Punch and Judy, mortal risible.

1985 K. Howarth Sounds Gradely Mortal, ‘very’. Clitheroe.

Compounds

C1. With adjectives, as mortal elemented, mortal-lived, mortal-moulded, etc. Chiefly poetic.

ΚΠ

1672 J. Dryden Conquest Granada ii. iv. iii. 130 Instruct thy mortal Elemented son.

1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis xii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 610 The mortal-temper'd Steel deceiv'd his Hand.

1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles ii. xi. 54 Or, mortal-moulded, comest thou here, From England's love, or France's fear?

1927 E. Wilson tr. A. E. Housman in Bookman (N.Y.) Oct. 162 A comrade, mortal-lived but stout, Whose name shall bring my volume out.

C2.

mortal mind n. Christian Science the source in humans of all delusion and error, creating the illusion of bodily sensations, pain, and illness.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > [noun] > liability to err > source of

mortal mind1875

1875 M. B. Eddy Sci. & Health vii. 341 Faith is all that ever made a drug remedy the ailments of a man. Mortal mind is belief, the immortal is understanding, the latter is Spirit, the former personal sense; we must learn to hold the immortal and mortal mind or belief separate.

1881 M. B. Eddy Sci. & Health (ed. 3) I. ii. 114 Mortal mind is the remote cause of all suffering and sickness.

1903 ‘M. Twain’ in N. Amer. Rev. Apr. 508 In Christian Science terminology, ‘claims’ are errors of mortal mind, fictions of the imagination.

1970 F. S. Mead Handbk. of Denominations in U.S. (ed. 5) 71/1 Certain terms are important in the exposition of Christian Science... Mortal mind is ‘the flesh opposed to Spirit’.

† mortal nightshade n. [compare post-classical Latin solatrum mortale (14th cent. in a British source)] Obsolete rare deadly nightshade, Atropa belladonna.

ΚΠ

1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iii. xciii. 448 Mortal Nightshade.

† mortal place n. Obsolete rare a part of the body to which injury would be fatal; a vital part.

ΚΠ

1670 J. Milton Hist. Brit. ii. 96 Last of all against himself he turns his Sword; but missing the mortal place, with his poinard finishes the work.

1802 G. Colman Poor Gentleman (new ed.) v. i. 70 Why, 'twould be bold to argue, uncle, if a bullet hits in a mortal place, that it won't kill.

mortal remains n. (a) that which remains of a human body after death; cf. remain n.¹ 3b; (b) figurative the last vestiges of something.

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > that which is left or remainder > [noun] > remains > last remaining traces of something

mortal remains1659

lingering1822

1659 J. Gauden Ἱερα Δακρυα iv. xxiv. 639 His ashes and mortal remaines are deposited with us.

1695 W. Payne Serm. Death of Queen 30 All Regard and Honour is due to her Mortal remains, and they ought like Sacred Reliques to be treated with Respect and Reverence.

1791 A. W. Radcliffe Romance of Forest I. ii. 38 ‘And these walls,’ said he, ‘where once superstition lurked, and austerity anticipated an earthly purgatory, now tremble over the mortal remains of the beings who reared them!’

1854 J. S. C. Abbott Napoleon (1855) II. xxxv. 655 The frigate charged with the mortal remains of Napoleon.

1905 Times 5 Jan. 3/7 It is more than probable that before the election campaign is over the mortal remains of the Hungarian revolutionary and patriot Rakoczy the Second will have reached Hungarian soil.

1968 Times 15 Aug. 2/3 They planned to walk with the mortal remains of pirate radio from Trafalgar Square to the Prime Minister's residence.

1984 Smithsonian (Nexis) May 98 Those sunken vessels, I knew, were nothing less than the mortal remains of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, forerunner of the present outfit, deliberately sunk in 1942 to keep them out of Japanese hands.

2009 Daily Tel. 13 Oct. 11/1 The..mortal remains of a French Carmelite nun were carried into Westminster Cathedral.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022).

单词	mortal
释义	mortaln. Brit. /ˈmɔːtl/, U.S. /ˈmɔrdl/ Forms: 1500s–1700s mortall, 1600s– mortal; Scottish pre-1700 mortall, pre-1700 mortell, pre-1700 1700s– mortal. Origin: Formed within English, by conversion. Etymon: mortal adj. Etymology: < mortal adj. Compare Anglo-Norman mortiel , Old French mortal (c1160), classical Latin mortālis (masculine, feminine), all in sense 1, and classical Latin mortāle (neuter) in sense 2. 1. a. colloquial. A person. Frequently in negative contexts as an emphatic equivalent for ‘(any) one’, ‘(no) one’. ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > [noun] hadc900 lifesmaneOE maneOE world-maneOE ghostOE wyeOE lifeOE son of manOE wightc1175 soulc1180 earthmanc1225 foodc1225 person?c1225 creaturec1300 bodyc1325 beera1382 poppetc1390 flippera1400 wat1399 corsec1400 mortal?a1425 deadly?c1450 hec1450 personagec1485 wretcha1500 human1509 mundane1509 member1525 worma1556 homo1561 piece of flesh1567 sconce1567 squirrel?1567 fellow creature1572 Adamite1581 bloat herringa1586 earthling1593 mother's child1594 stuff1598 a piece of flesh1600 wagtail1607 bosom1608 fragment1609 boots1623 tick1631 worthy1649 earthlies1651 snap1653 pippin1665 being1666 personal1678 personality1678 sooterkin1680 party1686 worldling1687 human being1694 water-wagtail1694 noddle1705 human subject1712 piece of work1713 somebody1724 terrestrial1726 anybody1733 individual1742 character1773 cuss1775 jig1781 thingy1787 bod1788 curse1790 his nabs1790 article1796 Earthite1814 critter1815 potato1815 personeityc1816 nibs1821 somebody1826 tellurian1828 case1832 tangata1840 prawn1845 nigger1848 nut1856 Snooks1860 mug1865 outfit1867 to deliver the goods1870 hairpin1879 baby1880 possum1894 hot tamale1895 babe1900 jobbie1902 virile1903 cup of tea1908 skin1914 pisser1918 number1919 job1927 apple1928 mush1936 face1944 jong1956 naked ape1965 oke1970 punter1975 ?a1425 (?a1350) T. Castleford Chron. (1996) I. l. 2052 Þai maid þame all in twell batails, Full egre vnto Brutes mortails, And at Kyng Golfayrs commaundment, Agayne þar fose fast on þai went. 1706 Ld. Godolphin Let. 10 Sept. in H. L. Snyder Marlborough–Godolphin Corr. (1975) II. 676 Not having yett seen any mortall, nor being like to see any tonight, I shall trouble you no further. 1728 G. Berkeley Let. in Wks. (1871) IV. 149 Speak not, therefore, one syllable of it to any mortal whatsoever. 1794 J. Byng Diary 30 May in Torrington Diaries (1938) IV. 38 Let me recollect my numbers—there are four mortals of us—2 horses—a dog—and a bird. 1846 W. E. Forster in T. W. Reid Life W. E. Forster (1888) I. vi. 186 What a strange little mortal he [sc. Lord J. Russell] is, to be ruler of a mighty nation! 1861 C. Reade Cloister & Hearth IV. ix. 102 She dared not trust such a treasure to mortal. 1864 A. McKay Hist. Kilmarnock (ed. 3) 164 Sandy and the other jolly mortals. 1920 New-Church Messenger 31 Mar. 255/1 To gratify some Unitarians, we took out of our Statement of Faith the declaration that ‘Without whom no mortal can be saved’,..and put in ‘Without whom no mortal could have been saved.’ 1931 J. Buchan Blanket of Dark iv. 77 I have seen a score of mortals since we broke our fast. 1993 Bridge Nov. 14/1 Less principled mortals would no doubt find some excuse to turn down the slam-try. 2005 K. Baker Children of Company iii. 242 I looked around to be certain there were no mortals in earshot and said to her,..‘I, er, noticed you up at the old resort.’ b. A mortal person, one who is destined to die; a human being, in contrast with an immortal. ΘΚΠ the world > people > person > [noun] > distinguished from immortal mortalc1485 deathling1605 sublunarian1710 earth person1879 c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 273 And yat he sall at all his power..defend thair lyfis..his lyf durand, agayn all mortall. 1567 Compend. Bk. Godly Songs (1897) 133 Lord I am heir ane wratcheit mortall. 1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 115 Lord, what fooles these mortals bee! View more context for this quotation 1651 T. Hobbes Leviathan iii. xxxiv. 213 Names..are usefull onely to the short memories of Mortalls. 1713 J. Addison Cato i. ii 'Tis not in Mortals to command Success. 1760–1 C. Lennox Tale of Geneura in Lady's Museum 763 Can it be..that my..princess whom I loved..with such pure reverence as mortals pay to Deities, should become the prey of loose desires? 1851 H. Melville Moby-Dick lviii. 307 Yea, foolish mortals, Noah's flood is not yet subsided; two thirds of the fair world it yet covers. c1882 W. S. Gilbert Iolanthe i. 4 By our laws, the fairy who marries a mortal, dies! 1931 P. S. Buck Good Earth iv. 43 The air and the earth were filled with malignant spirits who could not endure the happiness of mortals. 1997 T. Mackintosh-Smith Yemen (1999) 259 (Gloss.) The jinn..are invisible to mortals, but can affect their lives. c. In weakened use. A person of ordinary strength, skill, etc. (often in implied contrast with others of higher status or ability). Frequently with modifying word, as mere (also common, lesser, ordinary, etc.). ΚΠ 1702 W. Penn More Fruits of Solitude §262. 95 Those Higher Ranks of Men are but the Trustees of Heaven for the Benefit of lesser Mortals. 1713 A. Pope Corr. 14 Aug. (1956) I. 186 Our passions, our interests, flow in upon us, and unphilosophize us into mere mortals. 1809 W. Irving Hist. N.Y. II. vii. viii. 239 But though he was a man of most undaunted mettle..yet after all he was a mere mortal:—wearied out by these repeated oppositions and this eternal haranguing. 1873 Daily News 26 Aug. 2/2 An ordinary mortal would have found the beach in the middle of the day hot to unbearableness. 1896 J. Curtin tr. H. Sienkiewicz Quo Vadis ii. 13 The two friends sat down at an hour when common mortals were already long past their midday prandium. 1902 ‘E. Lyall’ Hinderers ix We ordinary mortals are at the mercy of you artists... You read us like books. 1996 Total Sport July 64/1 In the Tests he averaged 33: modest for mortals, unthinkable for Brian Lara. 2001 Financial Times 27 Jan. (Money section) 11/1 You also get the expertise of professionals to sort things out rather than leaving the investment decisions to mere mortals. †2. A mortal thing or substance. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [noun] > thing liable to death mortal1526 1526 Bible (Tyndale) 1 Cor. xv. 53 For this corruptible must putt on incorruptibilite, and this mortall [Gk. τὸ θνητὸν τοῦτο, L. mortale hoc] must put on immortalite. 1611 Bible (King James) 1 Cor. xv. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortall must put on immortalitie. View more context for this quotation This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022). mortaladj.adv. Brit. /ˈmɔːtl/, U.S. /ˈmɔrdl/ Forms: Middle English mortail, Middle English mortaile, Middle English mortaill, Middle English mortale, Middle English mortalle, Middle English mortayle, Middle English morteil, Middle English mortel, Middle English mortele, Middle English mortiel, Middle English–1600s mortall, Middle English–1600s mortell, Middle English– mortal, 1800s mortial; English regional 1800s martal, 1800s mortel, 1800s mort'l, 1800s mottal, 1800s– martel, 1800s– martil, 1800s– martle, 1800s– morthal (Manx English), 1800s– mortial, 1800s– mortle, 1800s– mo'tal, 1800s– mwortal, 1900s– mortul; Scottish pre-1700 mortaill, pre-1700 mortale, pre-1700 mortall, pre-1700 mortalle, pre-1700 morteill, pre-1700 morteille, pre-1700 mortell, pre-1700 mortelle, pre-1700 mortil, pre-1700 1700s– mortal, 1900s– mortial, 1900s– mortyal, 1900s– mortyel; also Irish English 1800s– morshul, 1800s– mortial, 1900s– mortkal, 1900s– mortyal, 1900s– mortyel. Origin: Of multiple origins. Partly a borrowing from French. Partly a borrowing from Latin. Etymons: French mortal; Latin mortālis. Etymology: < (i) Anglo-Norman and Middle French mortal, mortel subject to death, causing death, relating to death (late 10th cent. in Old French; French mortel ), and their etymon (ii) classical Latin mortālis subject to death, human, transient, in post-classical Latin also causing death (from Vetus Latina), relating to death (from 4th cent.) < mort- , mors death (see mort n.¹) + -ālis -al suffix¹.With mortal enemy (see sense A. 1a) compare Anglo-Norman mortal enemi , Old French mortel enemi (c1100), classical Latin hostis mortalis ; with mortal battle (see sense A. 1b) compare Old French mortel bataille (c1100); with mortal enmity , mortal hatred (see sense A. 1c) compare Old French mortel häine (1155), classical Latin mortalis inimicitia . With bed mortal (see sense A. 5) compare Old French lit mortel (late 12th cent.), post-classical Latin mortale feretrum funeral bier (5th cent.). With mortal sin (see sense A. 6) compare Old French pekié mortal (early 13th cent.), post-classical Latin mortale crimen , mortalia delicta (3rd cent.), mortale peccatum (4th cent.). Sense A. 7c is recorded in French from the 17th cent.; compare such phrases as quinze mortels jours, etc. A. adj. 1. Seeking to bring about the destruction of an adversary. a. Of an enemy: that will be satisfied only with the death of the foe; implacable, unappeasable. Frequently in mortal enemy, mortal foe. Also figurative. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > hatred > enemy > [adjective] > (of a foe) relentless or implacable mortalc1385 the mind > emotion > compassion > pitilessness > [adjective] > merciless > unrelenting > of an enemy mortalc1385 c1385 G. Chaucer Knight's Tale 1590 For I am Palamon thy mortal [v.r. mortel] foo. a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) iii. 2027 To grieve his mortiel enemy. c1429 Mirour Mans Saluacioune (1986) l. 2072 Saul laide for his dethe als for hys mortale enemy. c1450 J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte 3134 But that they be..Mortal foon to chastite. c1485 ( G. Hay Bk. Law of Armys (2005) 116 He suld..hald him..for his jnymy mortall. 1579 G. Harvey Let.-bk. (1884) 60 The mortallest enemy I have in this world? 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica i. vi. 20 The mortallest enemy unto knowledge. View more context for this quotation 1743 E. Young Complaint: Night the Fifth 9 Pleasure and Pride, by Nature mortal Foes. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. iv. 445 Halifax was the mortal enemy of despotism and of Popery. a1911 D. G. Phillips Susan Lenox (1917) II. xx. 453 Other peoples meet a new idea as if it were a mortal foe; the Parisians as if it were a longlost friend. 1994 Guardian 14 June i. 16/5 The long-haired, furrowed-forehead Klingons, once mortal enemies of Captain Kirk, but now among the friendlies in the new version of Star Trek. b. Of war, a battle, etc.: fought to the death. Now usually in mortal combat. Also figurative. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective] > of battle mortalc1387 battle mort?1553 c1387–95 G. Chaucer Canterbury Tales Prol. 61 At mortal [v.r. mortaill] batailles hadde he been fiftene. c1400 (?a1387) W. Langland Piers Plowman (Huntington HM 137) (1873) C. xviii. 290 The kynde is of a knyȝt oþer for a kynge to be take among here enemys in morteils [v.r. morteil, mortele, mortail, mortel] bateles. c1450 Siege Thebes (Rawl.) in Archiv f. das Studium der Neueren Sprachen (1913) 130 50 (MED) He fonde hem fighting togidre in ful mortall wise. c1500 Melusine (1895) 144 There bygan a mortal medlee. 1548 Acts Parl. Scotl. (1814) II. 481/1 The mortall weiris, crudeliteis, depredatiounis and intollerabill iniuris. 1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets xlvi. sig. D2^v Mine eye and heart are at a mortall warre, How to deuide the conquest of thy sight. View more context for this quotation 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 125 The shocking Squadrons meet in mortal Fight. View more context for this quotation 1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe I. ix. 165 All stood astonished at his presumption, but none more than the redoubted Knight whom he had thus defied to mortal combat. 1855 J. L. Motley Rise Dutch Republic III. v. v. 325 The mortal combat between the Inquisition and the Reformation was already fully engaged. 1914 E. R. Burroughs Tarzan of Apes xxviii. 392 That other day in far distant Africa, when Tarzan of the Apes had closed in mortal combat with the great anthropoid—Terkoz. 1983 Action Man Ann. 1984 78/2 Rangers set off in pairs in Space Speeders to engage the invading fleets in mortal combat. c. Of enmity, hatred, etc.: pursued to the death; unappeasable, unrelenting, deadly. Hence figurative or hyperbolically, as mortal aversion, etc. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > hatred > [adjective] > relating to deadly enmity mortalc1425 feudal1805 the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective] > of hate or enmity deadlyc1275 capital1395 mortalc1425 c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) iv. 4423 (MED) Þe dede cors to hem þei denye..of mortal enmyte Þat of houndis it shal deuoured be. a1500 (?a1422) J. Lydgate Life Our Lady (Adv.) in W. B. D. D. Turnbull Visions of Tundale (1843) 107 Thou Herode of malice most mortall. 1585 T. Washington tr. N. de Nicolay Nauigations Turkie iii. i. 69 From childly & fatherly kindnes to mortal enmity. 1587 J. Hooker Chron. Ireland 162/2 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) II Betwixt whome was a mortall hatred. 1665 W. Temple Let. to Sir J. Temple in Wks. (1731) II. 4 He has a mortal Hatred to the Dutch for their supporting his City of Munster against him. 1701 W. Wotton Hist. Rome i. 462 He had a mortal Aversion to Eunuchs, that third Species of Mankind. 1761 D. Hume Hist. Eng. I. xix. 459 This great and unusual act of authority in the council gave the Roman pontiffs ever after a mortal antipathy to those assemblies. 1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. II. vi. 117 The Popish Chancellor became an object of mortal hatred. 1885 O. W. Holmes (title) A mortal antipathy. 1992 Sunday Times 2 Feb. (Books section) 2/3 [He] had a mortal aversion to meeting his tax liability. 2. a. Subject to death, destined to die; not immortal or supernatural.Often in the tautologically emphatic phrase mortal man. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [adjective] > liable to death deathlyeOE deadlyc1000 brotel1340 mortalc1390 mortuala1500 deathful?1624 mortalized1633 cadaverable1651 cadaverizable1651 c1390 G. Chaucer Parson's Tale 1078 Ther as the body, that whilom was syk, freele and feble and mortal [v.rr. mortell, dedely] is inmortal. a1450 ( G. Chaucer Treat. Astrolabe Introd. 21 Alle the conclusions..ben unknowe parfitly to eny mortal man in this regioun. a1475 in A. Clark Eng. Reg. Godstow Nunnery (1906) ii. 509 (MED) The forsaid abbesse and Couente..warantiȝed and defended the said selde..to the said William More..ayenst all other peple mortall. a1500 tr. Thomas à Kempis De Imitatione Christi (Trin. Dublin) (1893) 40 (MED) Grete trust is not to be put in a mortall & fraile man. 1578 J. Rolland Seuin Seages 309 It was ane seiknes vncurabill, And to remeid to mortall man not abill. 1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III i. ii. 44 Are you all afraid? Alas, I blame you not, for you are mortall, And mortall eies cannot endure the diuell. View more context for this quotation 1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 355 No mortall man might ascend the Seat. 1667 W. Temple Let. to M. Gourville in Wks. (1731) II. 31 I begin to think that King and his Ministers are mortal like other People. 1728 E. Young Love of Fame: Universal Passion (ed. 2) vi. 174 Old-age will come; disease may come before; Fifteen is full as mortal as three-score. 1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Odyssey in Iliad & Odyssey II. xii. 95 No mortal man might climb it or descend. 1820 P. B. Shelley Prometheus Unbound iv. i. 138 Whose population which the earth grew over Was mortal, but not human. 1853 M. Arnold Scholar Gipsy in Poems (new ed.) 209 For what wears out the life of mortal men? 1957 G. B. L. Wilson Dict. Ballet 230 The ballets..taking as their theme the odyssey of mortal man in love with some female spirit of the air or water. 1983 A. Mason Illusionist vii. 243 They were banished from the garden and..became mortal: prey to sickness,..old age and death. 1994 Harper's Mag. Dec. 9/2 The largest expanse of such marble known to mortal man. b. Of or relating to human beings as subject to death or destined to die; characterized by, representing, or inextricably connected with human mortality.mortal coil: see coil n.² 4b. ΘΚΠ the world > people > [adjective] > opposed to divine fleshlyc1175 mortala1475 humanc1475 earth-born1596 a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) 50 (MED) Ay the cours of thys mortal lyff Euerych hovr doth to hys boundys drawe. 1565 T. Stapleton Fortresse of Faith f. 45 This Testament is written in mens hartes,..not in tables of stone or mortall mettall. 1596 E. Spenser Fowre Hymnes 153 How then can mortall tongue hope to expresse The image of such endlesse perfectnesse? 1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. i. 69 When we haue shuffled off this mortall coyle. View more context for this quotation 1638 J. Milton Lycidas in Obsequies 22 in Justa Edouardo King Fame is no plant that growes on mortall soil. a1645 D. Featley in T. Fuller Abel Redevivus (1651) 487 About this time Queen Elizabeth exchanged her mortall crown with an immortall. 1700 J. Dryden Chaucer's Palamon & Arcite ii, in Fables 28 In Brakes and Brambles hid, and shunning Mortal Sight. 1789 D. Rittenhouse Lucy Sampson iii. vii. 49 How faint is gratitude from a mortal tongue! 1839 T. Keightley Hist. Eng. II. 31 The axe descending, terminated his mortal existence. 1842 Ld. Tennyson Sir Galahad vi, in Poems (new ed.) II. 177 This mortal armour that I wear. 1843 G. Borrow Bible in Spain I. vi. 105 He..possessed the largest head which I ever beheld upon mortal shoulders. 1980 M. Robinson Housekeeping i. 5 As he was returning from some business in Spokane, his mortal and professional careers ended in a spectacular derailment. †c. Doomed to immediate death. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > dead person or the dead > [adjective] > doomed to die feyOE mortala1522 destined1704 a1522 G. Douglas tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) x. xi. 45 Gif thow askis a resput or delay,..Of this evident deyd of Turnus ȝing,..Allthocht he mortale be rycht sone we knaw. ?1624 G. Chapman Revenge for Honour iii. ii Not pledg my peerlesse Mistresse health? Souldier, thou'rt mortall, if thou refuse it. a1639 T. Dekker et al. Witch of Edmonton (1658) iii. i. 34 Not yet mortal? I would not linger you, Or leave you a tongue to blab. d. In weakened use (frequently with mere). Of ordinary strength, skill, etc. (often in implied contrast with others of higher status or ability); not extraordinary or superhuman. ΚΠ 1615 W. Hull Mirrour of Majestie 51 What came ye out to see? a mere mortall man in the huffe of his ruffe? 1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. i. 67 Success, the mark no mortal wit, Or surest hand, can alwayes hit. 1767 D. Garrick Cymon i. 5 What have you done? Why, like mere mortal woman, in the true spirit of frailty, [you] have given up me and my hopes—for what?—a boy, an ideot. 1849 E. Bennett Leni-Leoti xx. 95/2 I feel I must err; for I am only mortal after all, and cannot withstand the temptation of being with those I..love. 1869 L. M. Alcott Little Women II. xxiv. 351 No mortal boy could hold out long with Father Bhaer shining on him benevolently as the sun. 1904 J. Conrad Nostromo ii. i He perceived himself elevated to a pinnacle of power and safety beyond the reach of mere mortal plotters. 1987 S. Fiffer How to watch Baseball ii. 22 The top pitchers..can throw the ball at upward of 95 miles per hour, while mere mortal pitchers generate speeds of more than 90 mph. 3. a. Causing death, deadly, fatal; (now) spec. of a disease, wound, or blow; frequently with to. Also figurative: destructive or very damaging. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective] deadlyc893 deathlyOE deathfula1250 mortalc1390 capitalc1426 exitialc1475 fey1488 mortuala1500 perishinga1500 fatal?1518 ferial1528 mortiferousa1538 deadc1540 exitious?1545 deathlike1548 mortifying1555 starvingc1600 lethal1604 speedingc1604 vital1612 irrecoverable1614 feral1621 lethiferous1651 mortific1651 mortifical1657 daggering1694 exitiose1727 fateful1764 kill-devil1831 unsurvivable1839 lethiferal1848 tachythanatous1860 the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > [adjective] fellc1330 undone1340 ruinous?a1439 violablea1470 perniciousc1475 destructive1490 confusible1502 destroying1535 exitiable1548 ruinate1562 peremptory1567 wrackful1578 slaughterous1582 ruinating1595 ruining1605 corrumpent1607 wracksome1608 in suds1611 destructory1614 poisonousa1616 wrakefulc1625 predatory1626 predatorious1641 demolishing1648 untwined1649 undoing1654 destructionable1656 destructful1659 mortal1670 wreckinga1677 fatal1692 quadrumanous1704 interdestructive1805 annihilatory1825 demolitionary1834 ruinatious1845 consumptive1860 thunderous1874 c1390 G. Chaucer Melibeus 2161 Thre of his olde foos..betten his wif and wounded his doghter with fyue mortal woundes. c1430 (c1386) G. Chaucer Legend Good Women 2252 The Furies thre with al here mortal brond. c1450 (?c1408) J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte (1901) 3418 This mortal beverage So noyous ys and so doutable. 1551 R. Robinson tr. T. More Vtopia ii. sig. Pvii At hande strokes they vse not swordes but pollaxes, whiche be mortall, aswel in sharpenes as in weyghte. a1616 W. Shakespeare Othello (1622) v. ii. 212 Thy father's dead, Thy match was mortall to him. View more context for this quotation 1666 Philos. Trans. 1665–6 (Royal Soc.) 1 161 It is mortal to eat of the Flesh of creatures killed by Vipers. 1670 R. Baxter Cure Church-div. Pref. sig. B I know that these principles are as mortal to the Churches, as they are to Souls. 1711 Boston News-let. 24 Dec. 2/2 They write from North-Carolina, that they are distressed there with..a Mortal Distemper. 1763 Museum Rusticum (1764) 1 lxxxiii. 369 To avoid the early frosts, which are mortal to them. 1769 E. Burke Observ. Late State Nation 15 I will shew him a fact more, that is mortal to his assertions. 1802 W. Paley Nat. Theol. xx. 393 Here therefore might seem to be a mortal defect in their constitution. 1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles iii. xxix. 119 The master'd felon press'd the ground, And gasp'd beneath a mortal wound. 1833 T. De Quincey Cæsars in Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Jan. 56/2 Even the more innocent exhibitions, in which brutes only were the sufferers, could not but be mortal to all the finer sensibilities. 1838 E. B. Barrett Romaunt of Page in Tait's Edinb. Mag. Nov. 682/2 Anon in the tent, and anon in the fight, [thou] Didst ward me a mortal blow. 1921 L. Strachey Queen Victoria ii. 20 The King, it was plain, could not live much longer; and the Duchess of York had been attacked by a mortal disease. 1980 Morning Post 19 May 3/4 The motion..asks for safeguards for those who..may be required to deliver a mortal wound. 1993 U.S. News & World Rep. 11 Jan. 28/2 The Rabin government had dealt ‘a mortal blow’ to the peace process. †b. Of a period, region, etc.: characterized by many deaths. Obsolete. (Cf. mortality n. 2.) ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > [adjective] > characterized by many mortala1500 a1500 tr. A. Chartier Traité de l'Esperance (Rawl.) (1974) 16 (MED) In this mortall season, thou shalt haue non other fruyte but longe tyme to be vnhappy. a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1649 (1955) II. 565 This was a very sickly, & mortal Autumne. 1741 Lett. James Murray, Loyalist (1901) 62 So sickly and mortal a place as So. Carolina. 1775 A. Adams in J. Adams & A. Adams Familiar Lett. (1876) lix. 95 So sickly and so mortal a time the oldest man does not remember. 1803 T. R. Malthus Ess. Princ. Population (new ed.) ii. ii. 207 The years 1757 and 1758 [in Sweden], were barren, and comparatively mortal years. 1803 T. R. Malthus Ess. Princ. Population (new ed.) ii. ii. 209 Notwithstanding the mortal year of 1789, it appeared..that the general healthiness of the country had increased. 4. Of pain, grief, fear, or the like: such as might cause death; deadly in its effects. Often in hyperbolical and humorous use. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > cause of death > [adjective] > such as might cause death mortalc1425 the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > very great or extreme > specifically of something bad or reprobated woefula1400 mortalc1425 preciousc1475 fine1559 trim1569 gay1581 unconscionable1590 pocky1601 abominable1612 fearful1634 handsome1638 plaguey1694 dreadful1700 awfy1724 murrain1728 diabolical1750 deuced1782 dire1836 sinful1863 sodding1881 blooming1882 flaming1895 ruddy1896 abysmal1904 awful1916 hellishing1927 right1958 steaming1962 schwag1993 c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. 2059 (MED) My pitous and woful aventure Is to rewful, and my mortal peyne. c1450 (c1370) G. Chaucer Complaint unto Pity 61 Sheweth unto youre rial excellence Youre servaunt..Hys mortal harm, in which he is yfalle. a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) 13679 Lyk a bryd..Wych, in hyr gret mortal ffer..begynneth quake. 1509 S. Hawes Pastime of Pleasure (1845) xxx. 148 He thinketh long after delyveracion Of his great wo and eke mortall paynes. 1567 G. Fenton tr. M. Bandello Certaine Tragicall Disc. 553 The force of his passion assailed him still with three or four mortal pangs. 1603 R. Knolles Gen. Hist. Turkes 477 By such meanes as hee least feared might haue procured anie such mortall distrust or danger. 1693 J. Dryden tr. Ovid Metamorphoses i, in Examen Poeticum 47 The Nymph grew pale, and in a mortal fright. 1822 W. Irving Bracebridge Hall xviii. 158 Her finery at church on Sundays has given mortal offence to her former intimates in the village. 1835 A. Alison Hist. Europe during French Revol. III. xxvi. 658 Reports of the failure of the enterprise were generally spread, and diffused the most mortal disquietude. 1879 M. Arnold Falkland in Mixed Ess. 210 The marriage gave mortal offence to his father. 1917 ‘Contact’ Airman's Outings 198 These did not have their customary effect on a novice of inspiring mortal funk, for the new pilot became furiously angry and flew Berserk. 1954 I. Murdoch Under Net x. 137 I was in mortal terror that at any moment Sadie and Sammy would come out. 1988 M. Dibdin Ratking vi. 149 She knew only too well which letter he was talking about and was in mortal dread of the family finding out. †5. Relating to, connected with, or accompanying death. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > life > death > [adjective] > relating to death mortalc1425 deadly1470 capitalc1475 mortuary1542 parting?1570 deada1586 defunctive1601 lethal1607 deathly1763 deathya1822 c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. 422 (MED) Trist and hevy..So astoned with þis mortal tale, Þat his desyre was to haue ben ded. a1450 (c1412) T. Hoccleve De Regimine Principum (Harl. 4866) (1897) 1966 (MED) Allas! þat þou thyn excellent prudence, In þi bed mortel mightist naght by-qwethe. 1542 N. Udall tr. Erasmus Apophthegmes f. 154 When he [sc. Diogenes] was awaked out of his mortal slepe, that is to saye, the last that euer he had before his death. 1638 R. Baker tr. J. L. G. de Balzac New Epist. III. 79 To reade nothing but pittifull Stories, and mortall Predictions. a1682 Sir T. Browne Let. to Friend (1690) 5 All these, with many more, were so drowned in a mortal Visage and last face of Hippocrates, that [etc.]. 1702 R. Steele Funeral i. 4 This Fellow has a good mortal Look—place him near the Corps. 1733 A. Pope Ess. Man (rev. ed.) i. 280 Safe in the hand of one disposing Pow'r, Or in the natal, or the mortal Hour. 1815 W. Wordsworth White Doe of Rylstone i. 21 A tale of tears, a mortal story! 1822 P. B. Shelley Hellas 42 Thou see'st the mortal throes Of that whose birth was but the same. 1871 J. Morley Condorcet in Crit. Misc. (1878) 1st Ser. 38 The mortal struggles of a society in revolution. 6. a. Theology. Of sin or a sin: entailing spiritual death; depriving the soul of divine grace. Opposed to venial. Cf. deadly adj. 5. ΘΚΠ society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > sin > kinds of sin > [adjective] > mortal headlyOE headOE deadly?c1225 mortala1475 lethal1583 unvenial?1589 a1475 (?a1430) J. Lydgate tr. G. Deguileville Pilgrimage Life Man (Vitell.) 12486 (MED) Dedly synne..ycallyd ys mortal Be-cause hys hurtys ffynally Ben in effect verray dedly. ?c1500 Digby Plays 47 Ther be vij mortall synnes. ?a1525 (?a1475) Play Sacrament l. 893 in N. Davis Non-Cycle Plays & Fragm. (1970) 85 We haue offenddyd sorowfully in a syn mortall. ?1566 (title) Whether it be mortall sinne to transgresse ciuil lawes which be the commaundements of ciuill Magistrates. a1602 W. Perkins Cases of Consc. (1609) i. ii. 10 Now though euery sinne of it selfe be mortall, yet all are not equally mortall: but some more, some lesse. 1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost iii. 215 Mans mortal crime. View more context for this quotation 1737 R. Challoner Catholick Christian Instructed ix. 116 By what Rule shall a Person be able to make a Judgment whether his Sins be mortal or venial? 1887 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Eng. 18th Cent. VI. 266 The Church had pronounced it to be a sin of that ‘mortal’ kind which excludes from heaven. 1920 K. E. Kirk Some Princs. Moral Theol. xi. 250 Any sinful act or habit.., which is known to be gravely at variance with the moral purpose of life, and yet which is deliberately committed or persisted in, is mortal. 1983 G. Grisez Way of Lord Jesus I. xv. 365 Those who commit and remain in mortal sin..evict the Holy Spirit from their hearts. 1987 M. Collins Angel vi. 107 Missing church on Sundays was a mortal sin. b. figurative. ΚΠ 1581 G. Pettie tr. S. Guazzo Ciuile Conuersat. (1586) ii. 66 b If the fault in wordes be veniall, the fault in sentence and matter is mortall. 1769 D. Garrick Let. 27 Aug. (1963) II. 661 The exorbitant price that some of y^e People ask, will Effect the whole Jubilee, and rise up a mortal Sin against us. 1968 Listener 10 Oct. 469/2 To speak well of the past was a mortal sin and got you into trouble with the party theologians and eventually with the police. 7. In colloquial, regional, and slang uses. a. colloquial. As an emphatic expletive (with any, every, or a negative, frequently qualifying thing). Cf. earthly adj. 1b. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > belief > uncertainty, doubt, hesitation > possibility > [adjective] possiblec1384 possibly1542 resortible1586 feasible1611 mortal1616 maybe1687 poss1853 1616 B. Jonson Epicœne iv. v, in Wks. I. 580 Cle. Shall I goe fetch the ladies to the catastrophe?..Dav. By no mortall meanes. 1843 F. A. Kemble Rec. Later Life III. 36 I have every mortal thing to pack with my own single pair of hands. 1892 Daily News 19 Nov. 5/4 We have the authority of Sir James Sawyer for saying that ‘we may eat any mortal thing we like’. a1933 J. Galsworthy End of Chapter (1934) i. xxiv. 200 Every mortal thing's against you, from Death Duties down to gramophones. 1955 W. H. Auden Shield of Achilles i. 24 Why should I give Lake Eden to the Nation Just because every mortal Jack and Jill has been The genius of some amniotic mere? 1981 J. Gardam Hollow Land ii. 24 He knew every mortal thing you did, Mrs Teesdale said, even before you had done it. b. Extremely great, huge; extreme, excessive. Cf. deadly adj. 8a. Now archaic or regional.Apparently arising from hyperbolical or humorous applications of senses A. 1 and A. 4. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > very great or extreme strangec1380 overpassinga1382 passinga1387 most?c1430 extremec1460 horriblea1464 violenta1500 mainc1540 immortal?c1550 exquisite1552 sore1555 three-piled1598 thundering1618 devilish1639 shrewda1643 deadly1660 woundy1681 vast1696 monstrous1711 mortal1716 terrific1743 hell-fired1754 hellish1764 colossal1794 severe1805 awful1818 all-fired1829 terrible1829 quare and1847 ferocious1877 pluperfect1889 raging1889 giddy1896 utter1898 stiff1905 1716 Lady Cowper Diary (1864) 69 Lord Nottingham and the Duchess of Roxburgh take mortal pains to make the Princess think well of the Tories. 1762 I. Bickerstaff Love in Village (1765) i. vi. 12 I never saw such a mortal throng in our village in all my born days again. a1777 S. Foote Nabob (1778) ii. 38 They do a mortal deal of harm in the country. 1853 C. Dickens Bleak House v. 38 I was a mortal sight younger then. 1864 C. Dickens Our Mutual Friend (1865) I. i. xv. 140 Well, it ain't that I'm in a mortal hurry. 1900 Cornhill Mag. Sept. 313 'Tis a mortal sight o' taters as is here among ye. 1993 ‘E. Peters’ Holy Thief (BNC) 87 ‘And they made off southerly?’ asked Cadfael... ‘Southwest... And in a mortal hurry by all the signs.’ c. slang. Long and tedious. ΘΚΠ the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > wearisome or tedious > tediously long elengec897 longOE longsomea1400 infinite1585 long-winded1645 mortal1758 everlasting1761 longful1777 eternal1787 1758 A. Smith Let. 19 Aug. in Corr. (1977) xxvi. 25 I..have been looking in the map and find Minto above three score mortal miles from Glasgow the nearest way that I can go to it. 1820 W. Scott Monastery III. v. 134 The interior one..occupied them for three mortal hours. 1842 E. Bulwer-Lytton Zanoni Introd. 19 And so on for 940 mortal pages in foolscap! 1878 R. L. Stevenson Inland Voy. 232 The marionettes..performed a piece, called Pyramus and Thisbe, in five mortal acts. 1910 E. Wharton Let. 3 Oct. (1988) 222 Here have we been waiting ten mortal days, in infernal heat. 1974 U. K. Le Guin Dispossessed (1975) xiii. 311 Sadik had been trainsick for three mortal days. d. English regional (northern) and Scottish. Completely drunk, dead drunk. Cf. sense B. ΚΠ 1796 E. Fremantle Jrnl. 10 Oct. in A. Fremantle Wynne Diaries (1952) xix. 257 Dined with Montresor and got mortal..& fell asleep. 1824 J. Mactaggart Sc. Gallovidian Encycl. 54 He was often carried home to his crue, on a hand-barrow, just mortal. 1867 A. Dawson Rambling Recoll. (1868) 21 They had tasted of the bottles of the whole fifteen by which time they were one and all of them ‘mortal’. 1891 J. M. Barrie Little Minister II. xxiv. 167 He doesna strike me except when he's mortal. 1995 A. Warner Morvern Callar (1996) 7 Then she goes, since we were off for three day would I come to The Mantrap and get mortal after closedown? B. adv. = mortally adv. In later use colloquial and regional: extremely, excessively. Cf. deadly adv. 4. mortal drunk n. dead drunk. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > extremely or exceedingly > excessively cruellyc1385 overa1400 fullc1400 parlouslyc1425 mortalc1440 perilousc1440 spitefulc1450 devilish1560 pestilently1567 spitefully1567 cruel1573 parlous1575 deadly1589 intolerable?1593 fellc1600 perditlya1632 excessively1634 devilishly1635 desperate1636 woundya1639 woundlya1644 desperately1653 wicked1663 killing1672 woundily1706 wounded1753 mortally1759 dreadful1762 intolerably1768 perishing1776 tremendously1776 terrifically1777 diabolically1792 woundedly1794 thundering1809 all-firedly1833 preponderously1835 painfully1839 deadlilya1843 severely1854 furiously1856 diabolish1858 fiendish1861 demonish1867 sinfully1869 fiendishly1879 thunderingly1885 only too1889 nightmarishly1891 God almighty1906 Christ almighty1945 c1440 (c1390) G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale (BL Add.) 406 Mortall [v.r. mortaill; Heng: But this scorpion..The Sowdanesse..Caste vnder this ful mortally to stynge]. c1450 (?c1408) J. Lydgate Reson & Sensuallyte (1901) 3665 The pereyl ys so mortal strong. c1500 Melusine (1895) 175 The batayll was there mortall fyers & doubtous for bothe partyes. 1753 Bp. W. Warburton Lett. (1809) 156 St. John's well, after the name of a mortal cold bath in Nottinghamshire. 1778 S. Burney Let. 16 July in F. Burney Early Diary (1889) II. 247 She is mortal fond of the book, and has got it by heart. 1784 R. Bage Barham Downs I. 9 A mortal rich gentleman. 1816 Ld. Byron Siege of Corinth xxi. 32 Though slight was that grasp so mortal cold. 1846 W. Cross Disruption xxvi. 289 The mistress of the house was ‘mortal drunk’ in bed. 1867 A. Trollope Last Chron. Barset I. xxxiii. 286 I wouldn't speak if I warn't well nigh mortial sure. 1884 ‘M. Twain’ Lett. to Publishers 23 May (1967) 175 I am mortal glad to hear you have got everything squared up with Osgood. 1896 Brechin Advertiser 28 Jan. 3 I didna like to see the three gettin' mortal drunk. 1936 J. Buchan Island of Sheep ii. 28 The white-fronts and the pink-foot [geese]..had been mortal hard to get near. 1955 S. H. Adams Grandfather Stories 300 A poppet [sic] show of Punch and Judy, mortal risible. 1985 K. Howarth Sounds Gradely Mortal, ‘very’. Clitheroe. Compounds C1. With adjectives, as mortal elemented, mortal-lived, mortal-moulded, etc. Chiefly poetic. ΚΠ 1672 J. Dryden Conquest Granada ii. iv. iii. 130 Instruct thy mortal Elemented son. 1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Æneis xii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 610 The mortal-temper'd Steel deceiv'd his Hand. 1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles ii. xi. 54 Or, mortal-moulded, comest thou here, From England's love, or France's fear? 1927 E. Wilson tr. A. E. Housman in Bookman (N.Y.) Oct. 162 A comrade, mortal-lived but stout, Whose name shall bring my volume out. C2. mortal mind n. Christian Science the source in humans of all delusion and error, creating the illusion of bodily sensations, pain, and illness. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > lack of truth, falsity > [noun] > liability to err > source of mortal mind1875 1875 M. B. Eddy Sci. & Health vii. 341 Faith is all that ever made a drug remedy the ailments of a man. Mortal mind is belief, the immortal is understanding, the latter is Spirit, the former personal sense; we must learn to hold the immortal and mortal mind or belief separate. 1881 M. B. Eddy Sci. & Health (ed. 3) I. ii. 114 Mortal mind is the remote cause of all suffering and sickness. 1903 ‘M. Twain’ in N. Amer. Rev. Apr. 508 In Christian Science terminology, ‘claims’ are errors of mortal mind, fictions of the imagination. 1970 F. S. Mead Handbk. of Denominations in U.S. (ed. 5) 71/1 Certain terms are important in the exposition of Christian Science... Mortal mind is ‘the flesh opposed to Spirit’. † mortal nightshade n. [compare post-classical Latin solatrum mortale (14th cent. in a British source)] Obsolete rare deadly nightshade, Atropa belladonna. ΚΠ 1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball iii. xciii. 448 Mortal Nightshade. † mortal place n. Obsolete rare a part of the body to which injury would be fatal; a vital part. ΚΠ 1670 J. Milton Hist. Brit. ii. 96 Last of all against himself he turns his Sword; but missing the mortal place, with his poinard finishes the work. 1802 G. Colman Poor Gentleman (new ed.) v. i. 70 Why, 'twould be bold to argue, uncle, if a bullet hits in a mortal place, that it won't kill. mortal remains n. (a) that which remains of a human body after death; cf. remain n.¹ 3b; (b) figurative the last vestiges of something. ΘΚΠ the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > that which is left or remainder > [noun] > remains > last remaining traces of something mortal remains1659 lingering1822 1659 J. Gauden Ἱερα Δακρυα iv. xxiv. 639 His ashes and mortal remaines are deposited with us. 1695 W. Payne Serm. Death of Queen 30 All Regard and Honour is due to her Mortal remains, and they ought like Sacred Reliques to be treated with Respect and Reverence. 1791 A. W. Radcliffe Romance of Forest I. ii. 38 ‘And these walls,’ said he, ‘where once superstition lurked, and austerity anticipated an earthly purgatory, now tremble over the mortal remains of the beings who reared them!’ 1854 J. S. C. Abbott Napoleon (1855) II. xxxv. 655 The frigate charged with the mortal remains of Napoleon. 1905 Times 5 Jan. 3/7 It is more than probable that before the election campaign is over the mortal remains of the Hungarian revolutionary and patriot Rakoczy the Second will have reached Hungarian soil. 1968 Times 15 Aug. 2/3 They planned to walk with the mortal remains of pirate radio from Trafalgar Square to the Prime Minister's residence. 1984 Smithsonian (Nexis) May 98 Those sunken vessels, I knew, were nothing less than the mortal remains of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company, forerunner of the present outfit, deliberately sunk in 1942 to keep them out of Japanese hands. 2009 Daily Tel. 13 Oct. 11/1 The..mortal remains of a French Carmelite nun were carried into Westminster Cathedral. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online June 2022). < n.?a1425adj.adv.c1385
随便看	getout clause getout figure getoverable getpenny getrichquick getrichquicker getrichquickishness gets gets about gets across gets along gets around gets back gets by gets down gets in gets off gets on gets out gets round gets through gets up gettable gettabler gettablest

mortaln.

mortaladj.adv.

Compounds