martyrologist
1
9.9
- noun
- /ˌmɑːr.tɪˈrɒl.ə.dʒɪst/
- Specialized
- A dedicated martyrologist spends years researching the lives and deaths of early Christian martyrs.
Examples
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These martyrologists were following a precedent set by Jesus' insistence that no earthly ruler (for example, Pilate or Herod) could control this divinely directed courtroom drama.
Academic text (2002) -
This is equally the case with Foxe, who is labeled a martyrologist more often than a historian.
Academic text (2002) -
The difficulty for any martyrologist who portrays the holy death as the greatest contribution to the Christian cause is that he must justify the fact that he is alive to write the history, and therefore that his name is not on the list of those who died for their faith.
Academic text (2002) -
The mutable bodies of the martyrs are transferred into immutable texts that will survive, precisely because the martyrologist has monumentalized them in such a way.
Academic text (2002) -
There is no reason to assume that Eusebius was Foxe's only model for his martyr accounts (for instance, Foxe had clearly read Lactantius and other early martyrologists).
Academic text (2002) -
In her new book, the martyrologist details the sacrifices made by those who refused to renounce their faith.
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The lecture series featured a prominent martyrologist discussing the significance of martyrdom in religious history.
How Expert
Surface Forms
Morphology
martyrologist = martyrology (semi-transparent) = martyr + ologist
The word is built transparently from the specialized base term 'martyrology' plus '-ist', but the base itself is a learned and relatively uncommon word.
Etymology
Martyrologist is made of three parts: martyr, from Greek 'martys' meaning 'witness' and later 'someone who dies for a cause', the part -logy from logos meaning 'word' or 'account' as in biology, and -ist meaning 'a person who studies or does something'. So a martyrologist is someone who studies or writes the accounts of martyrs.