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immolate - 4 dictionary results

im⋅mo⋅late

  [im-uh-leyt]
Use immolate in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), -lat⋅ed, -lat⋅ing.
1. to sacrifice.
2. to kill as a sacrificial victim, as by fire; offer in sacrifice.
3. to destroy by fire.
Origin:
1540–50; < L immolātus, ptp. of immolāre to sprinkle with holy meal prior to sacrificing, sacrifice, equiv. to im- im- 1 + mol(a) sacrificial barley cake, lit., millstone (see mill 1 ) + -ātus -ate 1

Related forms:
im⋅mo⋅la⋅tor, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To immolate
im·mo·late   (ĭm'ə-lāt')   
tr.v.   im·mo·lat·ed, im·mo·lat·ing, im·mo·lates
  1. To kill as a sacrifice.
  2. To kill (oneself) by fire.
  3. To destroy.

[Latin immolāre, immolāt-, to sacrifice, sprinkle with sacrificial meal : in-, on; see in-2 + mola, meal, millstone; see melə- in Indo-European roots.]
im'mo·la'tion n., im'mo·la'tor n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Immolate

Im"mo*late\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Immolated; p. pr. & vb. n. Immolating.] [L. immolatus, p. p. of immolare to sacrifice, orig., to sprinkle a victim with sacrifical meal; pref. im- in + mola grits or grains of spelt coarsely ground and mixed with salt; also, mill. See Molar, Meal ground grain.] To sacrifice; to offer in sacrifice; to kill, as a sacrificial victim.

Worshipers, who not only immolate to them [the deities] the lives of men, but . . . the virtue and honor of women. --Boyle.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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immolate 
1548, "to sacrifice, kill as a victim," originally an adj. (1534), from L. immolatus, pp. of immolare "to sacrifice," originally "to sprinkle with sacrificial meal," from in- "upon" + mola (salsa) "(sacrificial) meal," related to molere "to grind."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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