Sacrifice Meaning
/ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Definition
nounOriginally, 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.
nounA human being or an animal, or a physical object or immaterial thing (see etymology 1 sense 1.3), offered to a deity.
Sentence Examples
Synonyms & Antonyms
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k- Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Indo-European *sh₂krós Proto-Italic *sakros Old Latin sacros Latin sacerder. Latin sacrum Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁k- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁kyéti Proto-Italic *θakjō Proto-Italic *fakjō Latin faciō Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ium Latin sacrificiumlbor. Old French sacrifisebor. Middle English sacrifice English sacrifice 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. Cognates * Italian sagrifizio * Occitan sacrifici * Portuguese sacrificio * Spanish sacrificio