passionary means A book in which the sufferings of saints and martyrs are described. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
Why “passionary” is a great word
PASSIONARY — [Noun] A book containing detailed narrative accounts of the sufferings and martyrdoms of saints. From Middle English *passyonarye*, from Medieval Latin *passiōnārium*, from Late Latin *passiō*, *passiōn-* ("suffering, passion") + Latin *-ārium* ("pertaining to"). First attested in English c. 1447. Unlike a "passional," which may broaden into general religious biography, or a "martyrology," which functions as a calendrical register of names, a passionary is devoted solely to the grim mechanics of holy agony. It is the vellum page stained with ink describing red-hot iron, the illuminated initial blooming red around a severed neck, and the quiet, methodical translation of screams into liturgy—a testament that the most profound truths are written not in ink, but in pain.
noun
- A book in which the sufferings of saints and martyrs are described