means Subject to death, and therefore human; also describes something so severe it can kill (a mortal wound) or, loosely, an ordinary person as opposed to gods and immortals.

from From Latin 'mortalis,' meaning 'subject to death,' built on 'mors, mortis'—death itself. That same dark root spreads everywhere: 'mortuary,' 'mortgage' (literally a 'death pledge'), and even 'mortify,' to kill or deaden. It reached English through Old French 'mortel,' carrying the old certainty that everyone—peasant, poet, king—shares one common ending.