sacrificial

Etymology

It is from Latin sacrificium (“a sacrifice”) with the suffix -al,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} replacing the older adjective sacrifical;^[2] the OED compares Middle French sacrificial of the 16th century.^[2] The Latin noun, the source of sacrifice, is from sacrificus (“performing sacrifices”), from sacer (“sacred”) and the combining form of faciō (“to make, do”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Relating to or used in sacrifice: in Shakespeare's Timon of Athens, which the OED dates before 1616^[2] and Johnson quotes for "performing sacrifice".^[8] Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1607,^[4] Etymonline to about 1600^[3] and Dictionary.com to 1600–10.^[7]

Semantic evolution

For two centuries the word kept to sacrifice in the religious sense, the offering of a life or a thing to a deity.^[2][8] From 1862 archaeologists used sacrificial mound for prehistoric American mounds with an altar or hearth showing traces of sacrifice.^[2] The later senses follow the broader meanings of sacrifice: "self-sacrificing" from 1890,^[2] and in commerce, of a sale, "involving a loss to the seller" from 1895.^[2] In chemistry a sacrificial anode, of a metal that is used up in protecting another metal from electrolytic corrosion, is recorded from 1861.^[2][5][4]

Timeline

• 1607 – relating to or connected with sacrifice.^[4][2]
• 1861 – of an anode used up in protecting another metal against corrosion.^[2][5]
• 1862 – sacrificial mound, a prehistoric mound with an altar.^[2]
• 1890 – self-sacrificing.^[2]
• 1895 – in commerce, involving a loss to the seller.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to, used in or offered as a sacrifice: a sacrificial altar.^[4][9][2][5]
2. Willing to give things up for others; self-sacrificing.^[2]
3. Of a metal anode, consumed in protecting another metal against electrolytic corrosion.^[4][5][2]
4. (commerce) Involving a loss to the seller: a sacrificial sale.^[2]

Word family

• sacrificially
• nonsacrificial
• presacrificial
• unsacrificial
• sacrificial anode

Related words

• sacrifice
• sacred
• sacrament
• sacrilege

Usage notes

A sacrificial lamb is a person or thing given up for the sake of others.^[2]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
8. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
9. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins