sacrifice

  • noun 1 the practice or an act of killing an animal or person or surrendering a possession as an offering to a deity. 2 an animal, person, or object offered in this way. 3 an act of giving up something one values for the sake of something that is of greater importance.

  • verb offer or give up as a sacrifice.

  — DERIVATIVES sacrificial adjective.

  — ORIGIN Latin sacrificium, from sacer ‘holy’.

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