adj. 1. a. Liable or subject to death; not immortal: mortal beings. b. Of or relating to humans as being subject to death: "When we have shuffled off this mortal coil" (Shakespeare). 2. b. Fought to the death: mortal combat. c. Relentlessly hostile; implacable: a mortal enemy. 3. a. Of great intensity or severity; dire: mortal terror. b. Conceivable; imaginable: no mortal reason for us to go. c. Used as an intensive: a mortal fool. n. A human. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin mortālis, from mors, mort-, death; see mer- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] mortal·ly adv. |
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