BIOTHANATI (supposed by some to be derived from bia, life, and thanatos, death, and alluding to the belief of a future life after death) was also a name of reproach given by the Heathens to the primitive Christians, for their constancy and forwardness to lay down their lives in martyrdom.
BIOTHANATOS is also used, in some writers of the barbarous age, for wicked, damnable, or accursed.