What does sacrifice mean?
Definitions for sacrifice
ˈsæk rəˌfaɪssac·ri·fice
This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word sacrifice.
Princeton's WordNet
forfeit, forfeiture, sacrificenoun
the act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc.
sacrificenoun
personnel that are sacrificed (e.g., surrendered or lost in order to gain an objective)
sacrificenoun
a loss entailed by giving up or selling something at less than its value
"he had to sell his car at a considerable sacrifice"
sacrifice, ritual killingnoun
the act of killing (an animal or person) in order to propitiate a deity
sacrificeverb
(baseball) an out that advances the base runners
sacrifice, giveverb
endure the loss of
"He gave his life for his children"; "I gave two sons to the war"
sacrificeverb
kill or destroy
"The animals were sacrificed after the experiment"; "The general had to sacrifice several soldiers to save the regiment"
sacrificeverb
sell at a loss
sacrificeverb
make a sacrifice of; in religious rituals
Wiktionary
sacrificenoun
Something sacrificed.
sacrificenoun
A play in which the batter is intentionally out in order that runners can advance around the bases.
sacrificeverb
To offer (something) as a gift to a deity.
sacrificeverb
To give away (something valuable) to get at least a possibility to gain something else of value (such as self-respect, trust, love, freedom, prosperity), or to avoid an even greater loss.
sacrificeverb
To trade (a value of higher worth) for one of lesser worth in order to gain something else valued more such as an ally or business relationship or to avoid an even greater loss; to sell without profit to gain something other than money.
sacrificeverb
To intentionally give up (a piece) in order to improve one's position on the board.
sacrificeverb
To advance (a runner on base) by batting the ball so it can be caught or fielded, placing the batter out, but with insufficient time to put the runner out.
Etymology: From sacrificium, from sacrifico, from sacer, + facio.
Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
Sacrificenoun
Etymology: sacrifice, French; sacrificium, Latin.
God will ordain religious rites
Of sacrifice. John Milton.Upon such sacrifice
The gods themselves throw incense. William Shakespeare, King Lear.Go with me like good angels to my end,
And as the long divorce of steel falls on me,
Make of your prayers one sweet sacrifice,
And lift my soul to heav’n. William Shakespeare.Moloch besmear’d with blood
Of human sacrifice. John Milton.My life if thou preserv’st, my life
Thy sacrifice shall be;
And death, if death must be my doom,
Shall join my soul to thee. Joseph Addison, Spectator.To SACRIFICEverb
Etymology: sacrifier, French; sacrifico, Latin.
Alarbus’ limbs are lopt,
And intrails feed the sacrificing fire. William Shakespeare, Titus Andron.This blood, like sacrificing Abel’s, cries
To me for justice. William Shakespeare, Richard II.I sacrifice to the Lord all that openeth the matrix, being males. Ex. xiii. 15.
Men from the herd or flock
Of sacrificing bullock, lamb, or kid. John Milton.’Tis a sad contemplation, that we should sacrifice the peace of the church to a little vain curiosity. Decay of Piety.
The breach of this rule, To do as one would be done to, would be contrary to that interest men sacrifice to when they break it. John Locke.
Syphax loves you, and would sacrifice
His life, nay more, his honour, in your service. Addison.A great genius sometimes sacrifices sound to sense. William Broome.
Condemn’d to sacrifice his childish years
To babbling ign’rance, and to empty fears. Matthew Prior.To Sacrificeverb
To make offerings; to offer sacrifice.
He that sacrificeth of things wrongfully gotten, his offering is ridiculous. Ecclus. xxxiv. 18.
Let us go to sacrifice to the Lord. Ex. iii. 18.
Some mischief is befallen
To that meek man who well had sacrific’d. John Milton.
Wikipedia
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly existed before that. Evidence of ritual human sacrifice can also be found back to at least pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica as well as in European civilizations. Varieties of ritual non-human sacrifices are practiced by numerous religions today.
ChatGPT
sacrifice
Sacrifice is the act of giving up something valuable or important for the sake of other considerations, often for the benefit of others or to achieve a greater good. It can involve situations ranging from a personal decision to a religious ritual. The act of sacrifice often implies a degree of selflessness and altruism.
Webster Dictionary
Sacrificenoun
the offering of anything to God, or to a god; consecratory rite
Sacrificenoun
anything consecrated and offered to God, or to a divinity; an immolated victim, or an offering of any kind, laid upon an altar, or otherwise presented in the way of religious thanksgiving, atonement, or conciliation
Sacrificenoun
destruction or surrender of anything for the sake of something else; devotion of some desirable object in behalf of a higher object, or to a claim deemed more pressing; hence, also, the thing so devoted or given up; as, the sacrifice of interest to pleasure, or of pleasure to interest
Sacrificenoun
a sale at a price less than the cost or the actual value
Sacrificenoun
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
Sacrificenoun
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
Sacrificenoun
to destroy; to kill
Sacrificenoun
to sell at a price less than the cost or the actual value
Sacrificeverb
to make offerings to God, or to a deity, of things consumed on the altar; to offer sacrifice
Etymology: [OE. sacrifise, sacrifice, F. sacrifice, fr. L. sacrificium; sacer sacred + facere to make. See Sacred, and Fact.]
Wikidata
Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the offering of food, objects or the lives of animals to a higher purpose, in particular divine beings, as an act of propitiation or worship. While sacrifice often implies ritual killing, the term offering can be used for bloodless sacrifices of cereal food or artifacts. For offerings of liquids by pouring, the term libation is used.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
Sacrifice
sak′ri-fīs, v.t. to offer up, esp. on the altar of a divinity: to destroy or give up for something else: to devote or destroy with loss or suffering: to kill.—v.i. to make offerings to God.—n. the fundamental institution of all natural religions, primarily a sacramental meal at which the communicants are a deity and his worshippers, and the elements the flesh and blood of a sacred victim: the act of sacrificing or offering to a deity, esp. a victim on an altar: that which is sacrificed or offered: destruction or loss of anything to gain some object: that which is given up, destroyed, or lost for some end: mere loss of profit.—n. Sacrif′icant, one who offers a sacrifice.—adj. Sacrif′icātory, offering sacrifice.—n. Sac′rificer, a priest.—adj. Sacrifi′cial, relating to, or consisting in, sacrifice: performing sacrifice.—adv. Sacrifi′cially.—Sacrifice hit, in base-ball, a hit to enable another player to score or to gain a base.—Eucharistic sacrifice, the supposed constant renewal of the sacrifice of Christ in the mass. [O. Fr.,—L. sacrificium—sacer, sacred, facĕre, to make.]
The Nuttall Encyclopedia
Sacrifice
anything of value given away to secure the possession of something of still higher value, and which is the greater and more meritorious the costlier the gift.
Suggested Resources
sacrifice
Song lyrics by sacrifice -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by sacrifice on the Lyrics.com website.
British National Corpus
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'sacrifice' in Nouns Frequency: #2815
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of sacrifice in Chaldean Numerology is: 9
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of sacrifice in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1
Examples of sacrifice in a Sentence
This country was willing to sacrifice men and women, all over the United States, to make sure that we defeated Germany and that we won that war and for the following 75 years that we made this world safe for democracy, the Green New Deal calls that sacrifice and service and scale of commitment to mind when it talks about the challenges that we face today.
I have given two cousins to war and I stand ready to sacrifice my wife's brother.
no sacrifice no victory
Our commitment is to cover any gap that exists as a result and to relieve them of that burden, this sacrifice is remarkable and we need to recognize this.
The State is the altar of political freedom and, like the religious altar, it is maintained for the purpose of human sacrifice.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
References
Translations for sacrifice
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- تضحية, ذَبَحَ, ضَحّى, تArabic
- ахвяраBelarusian
- жертваBulgarian
- oferir, sacrifici, sacrificar, sacrificar-seCatalan, Valencian
- oběť, obětovatCzech
- offer, ofreDanish
- opfern, OpferGerman
- θυσιάζω, θυσίαGreek
- oferoEsperanto
- sacrificar, sacrificioSpanish
- loovutama, ohverdus, ohverdamaEstonian
- قربانیPersian
- uhrautua, uhrilahja, uhrata, uhrautuminen, uhraus, uhriFinnish
- sacrifice, sacrifierFrench
- íobairtIrish
- ìobairtScottish Gaelic
- sacrificio, sacrificarGalician
- áldozat, feláldozHungarian
- զոհ, զոհաբերություն, զոհաբերելArmenian
- pengorbananIndonesian
- gefa til, fórna, fórnIcelandic
- sacrificare, sacrificioItalian
- לְהַקְרִיבHebrew
- 捧げる, 生贄, 犠牲Japanese
- ზვარაკი, შეწირვა, მსხვერპლშეწირვა, გაწირვა, მსხვერპლიGeorgian
- 하다, 희생, 犧牲Korean
- قوربان کردن, پێناوکردن, قوربانی, لهخۆبوردن, فیداکاریKurdish
- sacrificō, sacrificiumLatin
- aukotiLithuanian
- raupangaMāori
- opoffering, offeren, offerDutch
- ofre, offerNorwegian
- poświęcać, poświęcić, ofiaraPolish
- sacrifício, sacrificarPortuguese
- jertfă, sacrifica, jertfi, sacrificiuRomanian
- пожертвовать, жертвовать, жертва, принести в жертву, приносить в жертвуRussian
- žrtva, жртвовати, žrtvovati, жртваSerbo-Croatian
- obetovať, obetovať sa, obetaSlovak
- žrtvovati, žrtevSlovene
- offra, offerSwedish
- muchangaSwahili
- தியாகம்Tamil
- త్యాగంTelugu
- fjtif, kurbanTurkish
- жертва, жертвуватиUkrainian
- 犧牲, hy sinh, sự hy sinhVietnamese
- sacrifyî, ofriWalloon
- קאָרבןYiddish
- 犧牲Chinese
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"sacrifice." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/sacrifice>.
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