victim
/ˈvɪktɪm/ noun, verb
Forms victims victiming victimed
- noun One that is harmed—killed, injured, subjected to oppression, deceit, or otherwise adversely affected—by someone or something, especially another person or event, force, or condition; in particular: “The victim of the robbery gave a detailed statement.”
- noun One who is harmed or killed by a crime or scam. “victims of assault; the murderer's victims”
- noun One who is harmed or killed by an accident or illness. “a fundraiser for victims of AIDS; a victim of a car crash”
- noun One who is harmed or killed as a result of other people's biases, emotions or incompetence, or their own.
- noun One who is harmed or killed as a result of a natural or man-made disaster or impersonal condition.
- noun A living being which is slain and offered as a sacrifice, usually in a religious rite.
- noun (by extension, Christianity) The transfigured body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist.
- verb (transitive, rare, now nonstandard) To make (something) a victim (especially of a ritual sacrifice); to victimize.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle French victime, from Latin victima (“sacrificial animal”). Although this root and victor drive from homophonous PIE roots, they are traditionally reconstructed as separate words and thus not cognates.
Webster’s 1913
- noun A living being sacrificed to some deity, or in the performance of a religious rite; a creature immolated, or made an offering of. Led like a victim, to my death I'll go. Dryden.
- noun A person or thing destroyed or sacrificed in the pursuit of an object, or in gratification of a passion; as, a victim to jealousy, lust, or ambition.
Etymology [L. victima: cf. F. victime.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “victim”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details