sacrifice
UK /ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs/ · US /ˈsæk.ɹɪˌfaɪs/ noun, verb
Forms sacrifices sacrificing sacrificed sacrificest sacrificedst sacrificeth
- noun Originally, the killing (and often burning) of a human being or an animal as an offering to a deity; later, also the offering of an object to a deity.
- noun A human being or an animal, or a physical object or immaterial thing (see etymology 1 sense 1.3), offered to a deity.
- noun (figurative) The offering of devotion, penitence, prayer, thanksgiving, etc., to a deity.
- noun Jesus Christ's voluntary offering of himself to God the Father to be crucified as atonement for the sins of humankind.
- noun (by extension) The rite of Holy Communion or the Mass, regarded as (Protestantism) an offering of thanksgiving to God for Christ's crucifixion, or (Roman Catholicism) a perpetual re-presentation of Christ's sacrificial offering.
- noun The destruction or surrender of anything for the sake of something else regarded as more urgent or valuable; also, the thing destroyed or surrendered for this purpose. “the sacrifice of one’s spare time in order to volunteer”
- noun (bridge) In full sacrifice bid: a bid of a contract which is unlikely to be fulfilled, that a player makes in the hope that they will incur fewer penalty points than the points likely to be gained by opponents in making their contract.
- noun (business, slang, dated) A monetary loss incurred by selling something at less than its value; also, the thing thus sold.
- verb (religion) To offer (a human being or an animal, or an object) to a deity.
- verb To destroy or kill (a human being or an animal); specifically (sciences), to kill (an animal) for a scientific experiment or test.
- verb To destroy or surrender (something) for the sake of something else regarded as more urgent or valuable. “Venison has many advantages over meat from factory farms, although it still requires a hunter to sacrifice the life of a deer.”
- verb (baseball) Of a batter: to advance (one or more runners on base) by batting the ball so it can be fielded, placing the batter out but with insufficient time to put the runner(s) out.
- verb (business, slang, dated) To sell (something) at less than its value, thus incurring a monetary loss.
- verb (chess) To intentionally allow (a piece) to be captured by the opponent in order to improve one's position in the game.
- verb (religion) To offer a human being or an animal, or an object, to a deity.
- verb (baseball) Of a batter: to bat the ball so that it can be fielded, placing the batter out but allowing one or more runners on base to advance.
Synonyms
save Molochise Molochize forfeit forfeiture ritual killing give
Etymology
From Middle English sacrifice (“act of offering a life or object to a deity; the life or object so offered”), from Anglo-Norman sacrefiz, and Old French sacrifice, sacrifise (modern French sacrifice), from Latin sacrificium (“something offered to a deity, sacrifice”), from sacrum (“sacrifice, sacrificial rite”) + faciō (“to do, to make”) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). The noun sacrum is the nominalized neuter of the adjective sacer (“devoted to a deity for sacrifice; holy, sacred”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k- (“ceremony, ritual; to make sacred”), and the verb faciō is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”). Related Latin formations include sacrificus (“of or pertaining to sacrifice, sacrificial”) and sacrificō (“to make a sacrifice”). Displaced native Old English blōt and hūsl.
From Middle English sacrificen (“to offer a sacrifice to a deity”), from sacrifice (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming infinitives of verbs).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The offering of anything to God, or to a god; consecratory rite.
- noun Anything consecrated and offered to God, or to a divinity; an immolated victin, or an offering of any kind, laid upon an altar, or otherwise presented in the way of religious thanksgiving, atonement, or conciliation.
- verb To make an offering of; to consecrate or present to a divinity by way of expiation or propitiation, or as a token acknowledgment or thanksgiving; to immolate on the altar of God, in order to atone for sin, to procure favor, or to express thankfulness; as, to sacrifice an ox or a sheep.
- verb Hence, to destroy, surrender, or suffer to be lost, for the sake of obtaining something; to give up in favor of a higher or more imperative object or duty; to devote, with loss or suffering.
Etymology [OE. sacrifise, sacrifice, F. sacrifice, fr. L. sacrificium; sacer sacer + facere to make. See Sacred, and Fact.]
Etymology [From Sacrifice, n.: cf. F. sacrifier, L. sacrificare; sacer sacred, holy + -ficare (only in comp.) to make. See -fy.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “sacrifice”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details