I. ˈmȯr]d. ə l, ˈmȯ(ə)], ]t ə l\ adjective
Etymology: Middle English, mortal, deadly, subject to death, from Middle French mortal, mortel, from Latin mortalis subject to death, mortal, from mort-, mors death + -alis -al; akin to Latin mori to die — more at murder
1. : destructive to life : causing or capable of causing death : fatal
a mortal disease
a mortal blow
a mortal wound
mortal danger
a new fact that was mortal to his theory
2. : subject to death : destined to die
all men are mortal
attended all that was mortal of their benefactor to the funeral pyre — J.G.Frazer
these pictures have a very mortal look, but the poems refuse to fade — New York Herald Tribune Book Review
3.
a. : aiming at extermination : fought to the death
living in one of those periods of history when wars are frequent and mortal — John Strachey
won a mortal contest against a totalitarian system which denied all the values of freedom — Alan Barth
b. : having or marked by an unrelenting hostility : implacable
a mortal enemy
a mortal aversion
a mortal hatred
4.
a. : existing in the greatest degree : marked by great intensity or severity : extreme , overpowering
was no longer in mortal dread of her job collapsing under her — J.W.Vandercook
the underworld that was in mortal terror of him — Richard Watts
b. : very great : awful
it's a mortal shame — Ellen Glasgow
made a mortal mess of things
5. : of or relating to man or mankind : human
attempting to thwart me with mortal morals — Sidney Howard
a nobody with an all too mortal longing to be a somebody — Time
the most marvelous work of mortal genius — W.L.Sullivan
6. : not able to be forgiven or condoned : deserving or entailing death
a weakening in our purpose, and therefore in our unity … is the mortal crime — Sir Winston Churchill
— see mortal sin
7. : of, relating to, or connected with death
the mortal moment when the bombers, committed to their target, are locked defenseless in their courses — Time
fell with a scream of mortal agony — F.V.W.Mason
8. : humanly conceivable or possible : earthly
every mortal thing the heart could wish for — A.E.Coppard
done all you asked — every mortal thing — Michael McLaverty
9. archaic : marked by many deaths
a very sickly and mortal autumn — John Evelyn
10. : long and wearisome : tedious
here they lay for four mortal hours, their faces close to the muddy water — E.T.Brown
three mortal hours — a hundred and eighty minutes — ticked off with jerky precision — Ida Treat
11. chiefly Scotland : dead-drunk
Synonyms: see deadly
II. adverb
Etymology: Middle English, from mortal, adjective
chiefly dialect : mortally
III. noun
( -s )
Etymology: mortal (I)
1. obsolete : something that is mortal : a mortal substance
this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality — 1 Cor 15:53 (Authorized Version)
2. : one who is mortal : a human being
what fools these mortals be — Shakespeare
parallels are risky matters between mortals — Claudia Cassidy
3. : individual , person
just the same careless mortal as to small properties that he used to be — Rachel Henning