Noun

(en noun)

(original sense) A living creature which is slain and offered as human or animal sacrifice, usually in a religious rite; by extension, the transfigurated body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist.

Anyone who is harmed by another.

* {{quote-book, year=1905, author=

, title= , chapter=1 citation , passage=“There the cause of death was soon ascertained?; the victim of this daring outrage had been stabbed to death from ear to ear with a long, sharp instrument, in shape like an antique stiletto, which […] was subsequently found under the cushions of the hansom. […]”}}

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-08, volume=407, issue=8839, page=55, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Obama goes troll-hunting , passage=According to this saga of intellectual-property misanthropy, these creatures [patent trolls] roam the business world, buying up patents and then using them to demand extravagant payouts from companies they accuse of infringing them. Often, their victims pay up rather than face the costs of a legal battle.}}

An aggrieved or disadvantaged party in a crime (e.g. swindle.)

A person who suffers any other injury, loss, or damage as a result of a voluntary undertaking.

An unfortunate person who suffers from a disaster or other adverse circumstance.

* {{quote-book, year=1907, author=

, chapter=6, tritle= The Younger Set , passage=“I don't mean all of your friends—only a small proportion—which, however, connects your circle with that deadly, idle, brainless bunch—the insolent chatterers at the opera,

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-06-29, volume=407, issue=8842, page=28, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= High and wet , passage=Floods in northern India, mostly in the small state of Uttarakhand, have wrought disaster on an enormous scale.

(label) A character who is conquered or manipulated by a villain.

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.