Mortal Meaning
/ˈmɔː.təl/Definition, CEFR level B2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjSusceptible to death by aging, sickness, injury, or wound; not immortal.
adjCausing death; deadly, fatal, killing, lethal (now only of wounds, injuries etc.).
Sentence Examples
All human beings are mortal.
We know that all men are mortal.
The gods have decreed that man is mortal.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The hero was not a god but a ____ man who could die in battle.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ancient hero knew that he was only ____, but he was still determined to face the dangerous dragon and save his kingdom.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English mortal, mortel, from Old French mortal, and their source Latin mortālis, from mors (“death”). In this sense, displaced native deadly, from Old English dēadlīċ.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Blyndfold he was; and in his cruell fist
A mortall bow and arrowes keene did hold […]"
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto XI”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
"into the plain
Disgorged at length, the dead and the alive,
In one dread mass, were parted, and the stain
Of blood from mortal steel fell o’er the fields like rain."
— 1817 December, Percy Bysshe Shelley, “The Revolt of Islam. […]”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1839, →OCLC, page 263:
"Last of all, against himself he turns his sword, but missing the mortal place, with his poniard finishes the work."
— 1670, John Milton, “(please specify the page)”, in The History of Britain, that Part Especially now Call’d England. […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for James Allestry, […] , →OCLC:
"Safe in the hand of one disposing Power,
Or in the natal or the mortal hour."
— 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], (please specify |epistle=I to IV), London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC:
"The nymph grew pale, and in a mortal fright."
— 1717, John Dryden [et al.], “(please specify |book=I to XV)”, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses in Fifteen Books. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
Explore More B2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The hero was not a god but a ____ man who could die in battle.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The ancient hero knew that he was only ____, but he was still determined to face the dangerous dragon and save his kingdom.