sacrifice

The word “sacrifice” means to offer something, historically an animal, person, or object, to a deity as an act of worship. In plain terms, giving something up — an offering to a god, or giving up something valuable for a bigger goal.

“Sacrifice” is pronounced SAK-rih-fys (/ˈsæk.ɹɪˌfaɪs/ in IPA).

Here is “sacrifice” used in a sentence: “She sacrificed her weekends to finish the manuscript on time.”

Depending on how it is used, “sacrifice” can be a verb and a noun.

The word “sacrifice” comes from Latin. From Old French sacrifice, from Latin sacrificium, from sacer ("sacred") plus facere ("to make/do").

“Sacrifice” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the C1 level.

“Sacrifice” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: to offer something, historically an animal, person, or object, to a deity as an act of worship.

Both can mean surrendering something, but "sacrifice" implies giving up something valuable for the sake of a more important goal, often with a sense of nobility or loss. "Give up" is more neutral and can simply mean quitting or stopping, with no implication that the thing surrendered was precious.

To sacrifice something is to give it up willingly for a greater cause, whereas to forfeit is to lose something as a penalty or because of a rule or failure. Sacrifice is a chosen act, while forfeiting is usually involuntary or a consequence of something.

You sacrifice something "for" a person, cause, or goal, and you may sacrifice one thing "to" another, especially to a deity in the religious sense. For example, "she sacrificed her weekend for the project" or "the offering was sacrificed to the gods."

In its original sense, to sacrifice is to offer something, historically an animal, person, or object, to a deity as an act of worship. Everyday modern use is usually figurative, meaning to give up something valuable, but the religious meaning remains in discussions of ritual and scripture.