ˌmȯ(r)d.əfə̇ˈkāshən, -(r)təf- noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English mortificacion, from Middle French mortification, from Late Latin mortification-, mortificatio mortification, killing, from mortificatus (past participle of mortificare to mortify, kill) + Latin -ion-, -io -ion
1.
a. : the subjection and denial of bodily passions and appetites by abstinence or self-inflicted pain or discomfort
fasted for the day as a mortification
b. : something that mortifies : a cause of humiliation or chagrin
2. Scots law : a gift for religious, charitable, or public uses corresponding to mortmain
3. archaic : a numbing of the vital faculties : a loss of consciousness at the approach of death : insensibility
4. : local death of tissue in the animal body : gangrene
5. : a sense of humiliation and shame caused by something that wounds one's pride or self-respect (as a slight, a deep disappointment, or a personal failure) : chagrin
the mortification of being jilted by a little boarding-school girl — Washington Irving
felt deep mortification at the plight of his invincible fleet — J.L.Motley
in real life she suffered such bitter mortification in the company of her fellow creatures — Robert Cantwell