Both Uses of
martyr
in
Henry IV, Part 2
- Yea, but our valuation shall be such That every slight and false-derived cause, Yea, every idle, nice and wanton reason Shall to the king taste of this action; That, were our royal faiths martyrs in love, We shall be winnow'd with so rough a wind That even our corn shall seem as light as chaff And good from bad find no partition.†
Scene 4.1 *
- If you be not too much cloy'd with fat meat, our humble author will continue the story, with Sir John in it, and make you merry with fair Katharine of France: where, for any thing I know, Falstaff shall die of a sweat, unless already a' be killed with your hard opinions; for Oldcastle died a martyr, and this is not the man.†
Scene 5.5
Definition:
-
(martyr) someone who dies or suffers to uphold principles -- especially someone killed for refusing to renounce their religion, or someone who commits a suicide death in the name of their religion
or:
someone who suffers a great deal
or (as a verb):
to kill someone or make them suffer in a manner that many would view as unjust