martyrology

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a calendar, register, or book listing martyrs and saints, often arranged by feast day

   The medieval martyrology lists each saint under the date of the saint's feast.

2. 2
   noun

   the ecclesiastical history or study of martyrs, their lives, and their sufferings

   Her martyrology examines how accounts of persecution shaped the early church.

Formed from martyr and -ology, or adopted from Church Latin martyrologium, itself related to Ecclesiastical Greek martyrologikon. The word originally denoted a register of martyrs before also naming the study of their lives and deaths.

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