Polycarp

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A second-century bishop of Smyrna who is venerated as a saint and was martyred by being burned at the stake
2. The early church leader of Smyrna honored as a martyr, executed around the middle of the second century
3. Saint Polycarp, a bishop of the ancient city of Smyrna who died a martyr's death in the Roman era

Etymology: Polycarp was a bishop of Smyrna, in what is now Izmir in Turkey, and the word is a name rather than a common noun that drifted into English. According to the account of his martyrdom written shortly after his death, he was burned at the stake around 155 or 156 CE, when he was reportedly about eighty-six years old, after refusing to renounce Christ before the Roman authorities. The name itself comes from Greek "Polykarpos," combining "polys" (many) and "karpos" (fruit), so it means something like "much fruit" or "fruitful." In English the name has been used since Old English times in its Latin form "Polycarpus," and it attached to the saint's story through church calendars and martyrologies. Its use as a generic term for an early Christian martyr is essentially a usage of the saint's name, with the sense of a model of steadfast faith.