Nearby Words

Victim

[vik-tim] Origin

vic·tim

[vik-tim]
noun
1.
a person who suffers from a destructive or injurious action or agency: a victim of an automobile accident.
2.
a person who is deceived or cheated, as by his or her own emotions or ignorance, by the dishonesty of others, or by some impersonal agency: a victim of misplaced confidence; the victim of a swindler; a victim of an optical illusion.
3.
a person or animal sacrificed or regarded as sacrificed: war victims.
4.
a living creature sacrificed in religious rites.

Origin:
1490–1500; < Latin victima sacrificial animal

vic·tim·hood, noun
vic·tim·less, adjective
non·vic·tim, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Victim is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
Collins
World English Dictionary
victim (ˈvɪktɪm)
 
n
1.  a person or thing that suffers harm, death, etc, from another or from some adverse act, circumstance, etc: victims of tyranny
2.  a person who is tricked or swindled; dupe
3.  a living person or animal sacrificed in a religious rite
 
usage  Using the word victim or victims in relation to chronic illness or disability is often considered demeaning and disempowering. Alternative phrases such as who experiences, who has been diagnosed with, or simply with and then the name of the disability or illness, can be used instead.

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

victim
late 15c., "living creature killed and offered as a sacrifice to a deity or supernatural power," from L. victima "person or animal killed as a sacrifice." Perhaps distantly connected to O.E. wig "idol," Goth. weihs "holy," Ger. weihen "consecrate" (cf. Weihnachten "Christmas") on notion of "a consecrated
EXPAND
animal." Sense of "person who is hurt, tortured, or killed by another" is first recorded 1650s; meaning "person oppressed by some power or situation" is from 1718. Weaker sense of "person taken advantage of" is recorded from 1781.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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