• (RP) IPA: /ˈsækɹɪfaɪs/, /-faɪz/
• (America) IPA: /ˈsækɹəˌfaɪs/

From Middle English sacrifice, from Anglo-Norman sacrefiz, and Old French sacrifice, sacrifise (modern French sacrifice), from Latin sacrificium, from sacrum + faciō + -ium + .

• Italian sagrifizio
• Occitan sacrifici
• Portuguese sacrificio
• Spanish sacrificio

sacrifice

1. (religion)
   1. 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.
      • 1634, T[homas] H[erbert], “[Angola]”, in A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. into Afrique and the Greater Asia, […], London: […] William Stansby, and Jacob Bloome, →OCLC ↗, pages 9–10 ↗:

        They firſt vvaſh the dead body, paint him, clothe him, and ſo conueigh him to his Dormitorie, vvhich is ſpacious and neat, vvherein they bury his Armolets, Bracelets, Shackles and ſuch Treaſure, concluding their Ceremonies vvith Mimmicke geſtures and eiaculations: vvhich, vvith the Sacrifice of a Goat, vpon his Graue, puts a period to their Burials.

      • 1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗, signature [B3], recto ↗, lines 392–396:

        […] Moloch, horrid King beſmear'd with blood / Of human ſacrifice, and parents tears, / Though for the noyſe of Drums and Timbrels loud / Their childrens cries unheard, that paſt through fire / To his grim Idol.

      • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […].”, in Paradise Regain'd. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for John Starkey […], →OCLC ↗, page 32 ↗, lines 435–439:

        This day the Philiſtines a popular Feaſt / Here celebrate in Gaza; and proclaim / Great Pomp, and Sacrifice, and Praiſes loud / To Dagon, as their God vvho hath deliver'd / Thee Samſon bound and blind into thir hands, […]

   2. A human being or an animal, or a physical object or immaterial thing (see ), offered to a deity.
      • 1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene i], page 212 ↗, column 2:

        Make of your Prayers one ſvveet Sacrifice, / And lift my Soule to Heauen.

      • 1677 (first performance), John Dryden, All for Love: Or, The World Well Lost. A Tragedy, […], [London]: […] Tho[mas] Newcomb, for Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC ↗, Act I, page 6 ↗:

        Does the mute Sacrifice upbraid the Prieſt? / He knovvs him not his Executioner.

   3. (figurative) The offering of devotion, penitence, prayer, thanksgiving, etc., to a deity.
      • 1549 March 7, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, “The Supper of the Lorde, and the Holy Communion, Commonly Called the Masse”, in The Booke of the Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacramentes, […], London: […] Edowardi Whitchurche […], →OCLC ↗, folio cxxviii, verso ↗:

        [W]e thy humble ſeruauntes […] entierely deſiryng thy fatherly goodnes, mercifully to accepte this our Sacrifice of praiſe and thankes geuing: […]

      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Jeremiah 17:26 ↗, column 2:

        And they ſhall come […] bringing ſacrifices of praiſe vnto the houſe of the Lord.

   4. (Christianity, specifically)
      1. Jesus Christ's voluntary offering of himself to God the Father to be crucified as atonement for the sins of humankind.
      2. (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-enactment of Christ's sacrificial offering.
         • 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter VI, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC ↗, pages 109–110 ↗:

           The pretensions of the holy see, the authority of tradition, purgatory, transubstantiation, the sacrifice of the mass, […] were copiously discussed.

2. (figurative)
   1. 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

      • 1651, Thomas Hobbes, “Of Punishments, and Rewards”, in Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC ↗, 2nd part (Of Common-wealth), page 166 ↗:

        The benefit vvhich a Soveraign beſtovveth on a Subject, […] are rather Sacrifices, vvhich the Soveraign (conſidered in his naturall perſon, and not in the perſon of the Common-vvealth) makes, for the appeaſing the diſcontent of him he thinks more potent than himſelfe; and encourage not to obedience, but on the contrary, to the continuance, and increaſing of further extortion.

      • 1753, T[homas] Gray, “Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College”, in Designs by Mr. R[ichard] Bentley, for Six Poems by Mr. T. Gray, London: […] R[obert] Dodsley, […], →OCLC ↗, page 12 ↗:

        Ambition this ſhall tempt to riſe, / Then vvhirl the vvretch from high, / To bitter Scorn a ſacrifice, / And grinning Infamy.

      • 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter X, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC ↗, page 647 ↗:

        [Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of] Clarendon saw that he was not likely to gain anything by the sacrifice of his principles, and determined to take them back again.

   2. (baseball) Short for sacrifice bunt or sacrifice hit.
   3. (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.

      Synonyms: save

   4. (business, slang, dated) A monetary loss incurred by selling something at less than its value; also, the thing thus sold.
      • 1844 (date written), Charles Dickens, “The Second Quarter”, in The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year out and a New Year in, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1845, →OCLC ↗, pages 52–53 ↗:

        The Old Year was already looked upon as dead; and its effects were selling cheap like some drowned mariner's aboardship. Its patterns were Last Year's and going at a sacrifice, before its breath was gone. Its treasures were mere dirt, beside the riches of its unborn successor!

      • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Conversations”, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume II, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1850, →OCLC ↗, page 216 ↗:

        [H]e bought a green shawl for Mrs. Bolton, and a yellow one for Fanny: the most brilliant "sacrifices" of a Regent-street haberdasher's window.

   5. (chess) An act of intentionally allowing one's piece to be captured by the opponent in order to improve one's position in the game.

• French: sacrifice, offrande
• Italian: sacrificio
• Russian: жертвоприноше́ние

• French: sacrifice
• German: Opfer
• Italian: sacrificio
• Portuguese: sacrifício
• Russian: же́ртва
• Spanish: sacrificio

From Middle English sacrificen, from sacrifice (see etymology 1) + -en.

sacrifice (sacrifices, present participle sacrificing; simple past and past participle sacrificed)

1. (transitive)
   1. (religion) To offer (a human being or an animal, or an object) to a deity.

      Synonyms: Molochise, Molochize

      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Deuteronomy 16:4 ↗, column 2:

        And there ſhall bee no leauened bread ſeene with thee in all thy coaſts ſeuen dayes, neither ſhall there any thing of the fleſh, which thou ſacrificedſt the firſt day at Euen, remaine all night, vntill the morning.

      • a. 1632 (date written), John Donne, “[Characters.] The True Character of a Dunce.”, in Paradoxes, Problemes, Essayes, Characters, […], London: […] T. N. for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1652, →OCLC ↗, page 68 ↗:

        [B]oth the muſes and the graces are his hard Miſtriſſes, though he daily Invocate them, though he ſacrifize Hecatombs, they ſtil look a ſquint, […]

      • 1634, T[homas] H[erbert], “A Description of the Bannyans in India”, in A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. into Afrique and the Greater Asia, […], London: […] William Stansby, and Jacob Bloome, →OCLC ↗, page 39 ↗:

        Their Funerals are theſe, they bring the dead corps neere to their Churches, vvhere they ſacrifice him to aſhes, in coſtly perfumes, in Aromatique Gummes and Spices.

        Used to refer to cremation of a dead body in a manner similar to a sacrifice.

      • 1646, Thomas Browne, “Of the Picture of Jephtha Sacrificing His Daughter”, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], London: […] T[homas] H[arper] for Edward Dod, […], →OCLC ↗, 5th book, page 255 ↗:

        [T]he Scripture vvith indignation, oft times makes mention of humane ſacrifice among the Gentiles, vvhoſe oblations ſcarce made ſcruple of any Animall, ſacrificing not onely man, but Horſes, Lyons, Ægles; […]

      • 1697, William Dampier, chapter XVII, in A New Voyage Round the World. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC ↗, page 485 ↗:

        [I]f they ſacrifice their Enemies it is not neceſſary they ſhould eat them too. After all, I vvill not be peremptory in the Negative, but I ſpeak as to the compaſs of my ovvn knovvledge, and knovv ſome of theſe Cannibal ſtories to be falſe, and many of them have been diſproved ſince I firſt vvent to the VVeſt Indies.

   2. (by extension, figurative)
      1. To destroy or kill (a human being or an animal); specifically (science), to kill (an animal) for a scientific experiment or test.
         • 1718, Mat[thew] Prior, “Solomon on the Vanity of the World. A Poem in Three Books.”, in Poems on Several Occasions, London: […] Jacob Tonson […], and John Barber […], →OCLC ↗, page 476 ↗:

           Condemn'd to ſacrifice his childiſh Years / To babling Ign'rance, and to empty Fears; […]

           A figurative use.

      2. 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.

         • 1710 October 2 (Gregorian calendar), Jonathan Swift, “[Dr. Swift's Journal to Stella.] Letter IV.”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […], new edition, volume XIV, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1801, →OCLC ↗, page 208 ↗:

           Deuce take lady S⁠⸺; and if I know D⁠⸺⁠y, he is a rawboned faced fellow, not handsome, nor visibly so young as you say: she sacrifices two thousand pounds a year, and keeps only six hundred.

         • 1751 August 16, Samuel Johnson, “No. 145. Tuesday, August 6. 1751 [Julian calendar].”, in The Rambler, volume VI, Edinburgh: […] Sands, Murray, and Cochran; sold by W. Gordon, C. Wright, J. Yair, […], published 1751, →OCLC ↗, page 109 ↗:

           [W]riters ſhould ceaſe from inteſtine hoſtilities; and, inſtead of ſacrificing each other to malice and contempt, endeavour to avert perſecution from the meaneſt of their fraternity.

         • 1849, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter VII, in The History of England from the Accession of James II, volume II, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC ↗, page 222 ↗:

           Could it then be doubted that, if the Churchmen would even now comply with his wishes, he would willingly sacrifice the Puritans?

         • 1857, George Eliot [pseudonym; Mary Ann Evans], “[Mr Gilfil’s Love-story.] Chapter IV”, in Scenes of Clerical Life [...] In Two Volumes, volume I, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, published January 1858, →OCLC ↗, page 243 ↗:

           The Baronet had sacrificed a large sum, and even straitened the resources by which he was to carry out his architectural schemes, for the sake of removing the entail from his estate, and making this boy his heir—[…]

         • 1873, William Black, “Sheila's Strategem”, in A Princess of Thule. […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC ↗, page 287 ↗:

           [H]e dresses well, but there is perfect freedom about his dress. He is too much an artist to sacrifice himself to his clothes.

         • 1891 January, Rudyard Kipling, chapter VII, in The Light that Failed, London, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published March 1891, →OCLC ↗, page 126 ↗:

           And I know by what you have just said that you're on the wrong road to success. It isn't got at by sacrificing other people,—I've had that much knocked into me; you must sacrifice yourself, and live under orders, and never think for yourself, and never have real satisfaction in your work except just at the beginning, when you're reaching out after a notion.

      3. (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.
      4. (business, slang, dated) To sell (something) at less than its value, thus incurring a monetary loss.
      5. (chess) To intentionally allow (a piece) to be captured by the opponent in order to improve one's position in the game.
2. (intransitive)
   1. (religion) To offer a human being or an animal, or an object, to a deity.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Ecclesiastes 9:2 ↗, column 1:

        All things come alike to all: there is one euent to the righteous and to the wicked, to the good and to the cleane, and to the vncleane; to him that ſacrificeth, and to him that ſacrificeth not: as is the good, ſo is the ſinner, and hee that ſweareth, as he that feareth an oath.

      • 1785, William Cowper, “Book I. The Sofa.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson;  […], →OCLC ↗, page 22 ↗:

        Like a coy maiden, eaſe, vvhen courted moſt, / Fartheſt retires—an idol, at vvhoſe ſhrine / VVho oft'neſt ſacrifice are favor'd leaſt.

      • 1818 (date written), Percy Bysshe Shelley, “To Castor and Pollux”, in [Mary] Shelley, editor, The Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley. […], new edition, London: Edward Moxon […], published 1840, →OCLC ↗, page 338 ↗, column 1:

        [T]he sailors tremblingly / Call on the Twins of Jove with prayer and vow, / Gathered in fear upon the lofty prow, / And sacrifice with snow-white lambs, […]

   2. (by extension, figurative)
      1. (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.
      2. (bridge) To make a bid of a contract which is unlikely to be fulfilled, in the hope that that the player will incur fewer penalty points than the points likely to be gained by opponents in making their contract.
      3. (Christianity) To celebrate Holy Communion or Mass.

• nonsacrificial
• sacred
• sacrificial
• sacrificially
• sacrificialness

• French: sacrifier
• German: opfern
• Italian: sacrificare
• Portuguese: sacrificar
• Russian: же́ртвовать
• Spanish: sacrificar

• French: sacrifier
• German: opfern
• Italian: sacrificare
• Portuguese: sacrificar
• Russian: же́ртвовать
• Spanish: sacrificar

• Russian: же́ртвовать