v. mor·ti·fied, mor·ti·fy·ing, mor·ti·fies v.tr. 1. To cause to experience shame, humiliation, or wounded pride. 2. To discipline (one's of the body and the appetites) by self-denial or self-inflicted privation, especially for religious reasons. v.intr. 1. To practice mortification of the body and its appetites. 2. To undergo mortification; become gangrenous. [Middle English mortifien, to deaden, subdue, from Old French mortifier, from Latin mortificāre, to kill : mors, mort-, death; see mer- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + -ficāre, -fy.] |
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