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Martyr vs Assassination - What's the difference?

martyr | assassination |

As nouns the difference between martyr and assassination

is that martyr is one who willingly accepts being put to death for adhering openly to one's religious beliefs; notably, saints canonized after martyrdom while assassination is killing or murder for political reasons.

As a verb martyr

is to make someone into a martyr by putting him or her to death for adhering to, or acting in accordance with, some belief, especially religious; to sacrifice on account of faith or profession.

martyr

English

(wikipedia martyr)

Noun

(en noun)
  • One who willingly accepts being put to death for adhering openly to one's religious beliefs; notably, saints canonized after martyrdom.
  • Saint Stephen was the first Christian martyr .
  • (by extension) One who sacrifices his or her life, station, or something of great personal value, for the sake of principle or to sustain a cause.
  • (with a prepositional phrase of cause) One who suffers greatly and/or constantly, even involuntarily.
  • Stan is a martyr''' to arthritis, Chris a ' martyr to Stan's endless moaning about it.
  • * {{quote-book
  • , year=1937 , author=AJ Cronin , title=The Citadel , passage=He'd been a martyr to asthma all his life.}}
  • One who is killed or suffers greatly because of an identity or position, e.g., a young prince killed when his father, the king, is deposed for the purpose of preventing the restoration of the monarchy later.
  • Synonyms

    * shaheed, shahid

    Antonyms

    * confessor

    Derived terms

    {{der3, martyr complex , martyrdom , martyress , martyrial , martyrish , martyrizate , martyrize , martyrizer , martyrly , martyrolatry , martyrless , martyrship}}

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make someone into a martyr by putting him or her to death for adhering to, or acting in accordance with, some belief, especially religious; to sacrifice on account of faith or profession.
  • To persecute.
  • ''Some religious and other minorities were martyred until extinction.
  • To torment; to torture.
  • The lovely Amoret, whose gentle heart
    Thou martyrest with sorrow and with smart. — Spenser

    Synonyms

    * martyrize

    Derived terms

    * martyrer

    assassination

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • killing or murder for political reasons
  • The assassination of the king occurred at night.

    See also

    * targeted killing