"Etymology: < post-classical Latin martyr witness, martyr (2nd–3rd cent.; used of pagan philosophers by St Jerome) < Hellenistic Greek μάρτυρ , variant of ancient Greek μαρτυρ- , μάρτυς witness (used in N.T. of witnesses for the faith who suffered martyrdom, as St Stephen at Acts 22:20). . . ."
Oxford English dictionary, 3rd ed. (December 2000), as reproduced in the online version dated September 2011, and accessed on 15 November 2011.
