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victim

 - 3 dictionary results

vic⋅tim

  [vik-tim]
Use victim in a Sentence
–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; < L victima sacrificial animal

Related forms:
vic⋅tim⋅hood, noun
vic⋅tim⋅less, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To victim
vic·tim   (vĭk'tĭm)   
n.  

  1. One who is harmed or killed by another: a victim of a mugging.

  2. A living creature slain and offered as a sacrifice during a religious rite.

  3. One who is harmed by or made to suffer from an act, circumstance, agency, or condition: victims of war.

  4. A person who suffers injury, loss, or death as a result of a voluntary undertaking: You are a victim of your own scheming.

  5. A person who is tricked, swindled, or taken advantage of: the victim of a cruel hoax.


[Latin victima.]
vic'tim·hood' (-hŏŏd') 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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Word Origin & History

victim 
1497, "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 animal." Sense of "person who is hurt, tortured, or killed by another" is first recorded 1660; meaning "person oppressed by some power or situation" is from 1718. Weaker sense of "person taken advantage of" is recorded from 1781. Victimize is from 1830.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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