Mortification

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Mortification \Mor`ti*fi*ca"tion\, n. [F., fr. L. mortificatio a
     killing. See {Mortify}.]
     1. The act of mortifying, or the condition of being
        mortified; especially:
        (a) (Med.) The death of one part of an animal body, while
            the rest continues to live; loss of vitality in some


            part of a living animal; gangrene. --Dunglison.
        (b) (Alchem. & Old Chem.) Destruction of active qualities;
            neutralization. [Obs.] --Bacon.
        (c) Subjection of the passions and appetites, by penance,
            abstinence, or painful severities inflicted on the
            body.
            [1913 Webster]
  
                  The mortification of our lusts has something in
                  it that is troublesome, yet nothing that is
                  unreasonable.                     --Tillotson.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Deep humiliation or shame, from a loss of pride; painful
        embarassment, usually arising from exposure of a mistake;
        chagrin; vexation.
        [1913 Webster +PJC]
  
     3. That which mortifies; the cause of humiliation, chagrin,
        or vexation.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              It is one of the vexatious mortifications of a
              studious man to have his thoughts discovered by a
              tedious visit.                        --L'Estrange.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Scots Law) A gift to some charitable or religious
        institution; -- nearly synonymous with {mortmain}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Syn: Chagrin; vexation; shame. See {Chagrin}.
          [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  mortification
       n 1: strong feelings of embarrassment [syn: {chagrin}, {humiliation}]
       2: the localized death of living cells (as from infection or
          the interruption of blood supply) [syn: {necrosis}, {gangrene},
           {sphacelus}]
       3: an instance in which you are caused to lose your prestige or
          self-respect; "he had to undergo one humiliation after
          another" [syn: {humiliation}]
       4: (Christianity) the act of mortifying the lusts of the flesh
          by self-denial and privation (especially by bodily pain or
          discomfort inflicted on yourself)

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  96 Moby Thesaurus words for "mortification":
     Albigensianism, Catharism, Day of Atonement, Franciscanism,
     Sabbatarianism, Trappism, Waldensianism, Yoga, Yom Kippur,
     abasement, abashment, abstinence, anchoritic monasticism,
     anchoritism, asceticism, austerity, awkwardness, caries, carrion,
     chagrin, cold purgatorial fires, comedown, confusion, debasement,
     decay, decomposition, deflation, descent, discomfiture,
     discomposure, disconcertedness, disconcertion, disconcertment,
     discountenance, disgrace, distress, disturbance, dry gangrene,
     dry rot, dump, embarrassment, eremitism, fasting, flagellation,
     foulness, gangrene, gas gangrene, hair shirt, hangdog look,
     humbled pride, humiliation, letdown, lustration, maceration,
     mendicantism, moist gangrene, monachism, monasticism, necrosis,
     necrotic tissue, noma, penance, penitence, penitential act,
     penitential exercise, purgation, purgatory, puritanism, put-down,
     putrefaction, putrescence, putridity, putridness, rancidity,
     rancidness, rankness, repentance, rigor, rot, rottenness,
     sackcloth and ashes, self-abasement, self-abnegation, self-denial,
     self-diminishment, self-mortification, setdown, shame,
     shamefacedness, shamefastness, slough, sphacelation, sphacelus,
     spoilage, tooth decay, voluntary poverty
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  MORTIFICATION, Scotch law. This term is nearly synonymous with mortmain.