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sacrifice - 7 dictionary results

sac⋅ri⋅fice

  [sak-ruh-fahys] noun, verb, -ficed, -fic⋅ing.
Use sacrifice in a Sentence
–noun
1. the offering of animal, plant, or human life or of some material possession to a deity, as in propitiation or homage.
2. the person, animal, or thing so offered.
3. the surrender or destruction of something prized or desirable for the sake of something considered as having a higher or more pressing claim.
4. the thing so surrendered or devoted.
5. a loss incurred in selling something below its value.
6. Also called sacrifice bunt, sacrifice hit. Baseball. a bunt made when there are fewer than two players out, not resulting in a double play, that advances the base runner nearest home without an error being committed if there is an attempt to put the runner out, and that results in either the batter's being put out at first base, reaching first on an error made in the attempt for the put-out, or being safe because of an attempt to put out another runner.
–verb (used with object)
7. to make a sacrifice or offering of.
8. to surrender or give up, or permit injury or disadvantage to, for the sake of something else.
9. to dispose of (goods, property, etc.) regardless of profit.
10. Baseball. to cause the advance of (a base runner) by a sacrifice.
–verb (used without object)
11. Baseball. to make a sacrifice: He sacrificed with two on and none out.
12. to offer or make a sacrifice.
Origin:
1225–75; (n.) ME < OF < L sacrificium, equiv. to sacri- (comb. form of sacer holy) + -fic-, comb. form of facere to make, do 1 + -ium -ium; (v.) ME sacrifisen, deriv. of the n.

Related forms:
sac⋅ri⋅fice⋅a⋅ble, adjective
sac⋅ri⋅fic⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
8. relinquish, forgo, renounce.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To sacrifice
sac·ri·fice   (sāk'rə-fīs')   
n.  
    1. The act of offering something to a deity in propitiation or homage, especially the ritual slaughter of an animal or a person.
    2. A victim offered in this way.
    3. Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim.
    4. Something so forfeited.
    5. Relinquishment of something at less than its presumed value.
    6. Something so relinquished.
    7. A loss so sustained.
    1. Forfeiture of something highly valued for the sake of one considered to have a greater value or claim.
    2. Something so forfeited.
    3. Relinquishment of something at less than its presumed value.
    4. Something so relinquished.
    5. A loss so sustained.
    1. Relinquishment of something at less than its presumed value.
    2. Something so relinquished.
    3. A loss so sustained.
  4. Baseball A sacrifice bunt or sacrifice fly.
v.   sac·ri·ficed, sac·ri·fic·ing, sac·ri·fic·es

v.   tr.
  1. To offer as a sacrifice to a deity.
  2. To forfeit (one thing) for another thing considered to be of greater value.
  3. To sell or give away at a loss.
v.   intr.
  1. To make or offer a sacrifice.
  2. Baseball To make a sacrifice bunt or sacrifice fly.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin sacrificium : sacer, sacred; see sacred + facere, to make; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.]
sac'ri·fic'er 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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Sacrifice

Sac"ri*fice\ (?; 277), n. [OE. sacrifise, sacrifice, F. sacrifice, fr. L. sacrificium; sacer sacred + facere to make. See Sacred, and Fact.]

1. The offering of anything to God, or to a god; consecratory rite.

Great pomp, and sacrifice, and praises loud, To Dagon. --Milton.

2. 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.

Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood Of human sacrifice. --Milton.

My life, if thou preserv'st my life, Thy sacrifice shall be. --Addison.

3. 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.

4. A sale at a price less than the cost or the actual value. [Tradesmen's Cant]

Burnt sacrifice. See Burnt offering, under Burnt.

Sacrifice hit (Baseball), in batting, a hit of such a kind that the batter loses his chance of tallying, but enables one or more who are on bases to get home or gain a base.

Sacrifice

Sac"ri*fice\ (?; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Sacrificed; p. pr. & vb. n. Sacrificing.] [From Sacrifice, n.: cf. F. sacrifier, L. sacrificare; sacer sacred, holy + -ficare (only in comp.) to make. See -fy.]

1. 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.

Oft sacrificing bullock, lamb, or kid. --Milton.

2. 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.

Condemned to sacrifice his childish years To babbling ignorance, and to empty fears. --Prior.

The Baronet had sacrificed a large sum . . . for the sake of . . . making this boy his heir. --G. Eliot.

3. To destroy; to kill. --Johnson.

4. To sell at a price less than the cost or the actual value. [Tradesmen's Cant]

Sacrifice

Sac"ri*fice\, v. i. To make offerings to God, or to a deity, of things consumed on the altar; to offer sacrifice.

O teacher, some great mischief hath befallen To that meek man, who well had sacrificed. --Milton.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : sacrifice
Spanish: sacrificio,
German: das Opfer,
Japanese: いけにえを捧げること
More Translations »

sacrifice  (n.)
c.1250, from O.Fr. sacrifise (12c.), from L. sacrificium, from sacrificus "performing priestly functions or sacrifices," from sacra "sacred rites" (prop. neut. pl. of sacer "sacred," see sacred) + root of facere "to do, perform" (see factitious). L. sacrificium is glossed in O.E. by ansegdniss. Sense of "something given up for the sake of another" is first recorded 1592. Baseball sense first attested 1880. The verb is first recorded c.1290.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Sacrifice

The offering up of sacrifices is to be regarded as a divine institution. It did not originate with man. God himself appointed it as the mode in which acceptable worship was to be offered to him by guilty man. The language and the idea of sacrifice pervade the whole Bible. Sacrifices were offered in the ante-diluvian age. The Lord clothed Adam and Eve with the skins of animals, which in all probability had been offered in sacrifice (Gen. 3:21). Abel offered a sacrifice "of the firstlings of his flock" (4:4; Heb. 11:4). A distinction also was made between clean and unclean animals, which there is every reason to believe had reference to the offering up of sacrifices (Gen. 7:2, 8), because animals were not given to man as food till after the Flood. The same practice is continued down through the patriarchal age (Gen. 8:20; 12:7; 13:4, 18; 15:9-11; 22:1-18, etc.). In the Mosaic period of Old Testament history definite laws were prescribed by God regarding the different kinds of sacrifices that were to be offered and the manner in which the offering was to be made. The offering of stated sacrifices became indeed a prominent and distinctive feature of the whole period (Ex. 12:3-27; Lev. 23:5-8; Num. 9:2-14). (See ALTAR.) We learn from the Epistle to the Hebrews that sacrifices had in themselves no value or efficacy. They were only the "shadow of good things to come," and pointed the worshippers forward to the coming of the great High Priest, who, in the fullness of the time, "was offered once for all to bear the sin of many." Sacrifices belonged to a temporary economy, to a system of types and emblems which served their purposes and have now passed away. The "one sacrifice for sins" hath "perfected for ever them that are sanctified." Sacrifices were of two kinds: 1. Unbloody, such as (1) first-fruits and tithes; (2) meat and drink-offerings; and (3) incense. 2. Bloody, such as (1) burnt-offerings; (2) peace-offerings; and (3) sin and trespass offerings. (See OFFERINGS.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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