victim English · revision 4518

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1497|origins=la victima}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈvɪk.tɪm/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|victime]],^(Barnhart 1988) and directly [[der|la|victima|t=animal offered as a sacrifice]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998) a word of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is perhaps related to vicis “turn, occasion”, as in [[vicarious]], the victim being an exchange with the gods, according to de Vaan, who also mentions other options;^(Etymonline) others connect it with Gothic weihs “holy” and German weihen “to consecrate”, from the notion of a consecrated animal,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[ine-pro|*weyk-|alt=*weik-|t=to set apart]].^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A living creature killed and offered as a sacrifice: 1497 in the OED and Barnhart,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) the late 15th century in Word Origins and NODE,^(Cresswell 2021)^(NODE 1998) the mid-15th century in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) Old English glossed Latin victimis with onsegednessum.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Christ as an offering for mankind is from 1736.^(OED 1989) A person who is badly hurt, tortured or killed by another is from 1660,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) the mid-17th century in Word Origins.^(Cresswell 2021) A person oppressed by some power, or ruined by disease, disaster or a passion, is from 1718,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) and the weaker sense, a person cheated or taken advantage of, from 1781, in Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) ''Fall a victim to'' is from 1764.^(OED 1989) ''Victimize'' is from 1830,^(Barnhart 1988) and ''victimhood'' from 1831.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1497 – a sacrificial animal.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1660 – a person hurt or killed by another.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1718 – a person oppressed or ruined.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1736 – Christ as an offering.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1781 – a person cheated.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1830 – ''victimize''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person harmed, injured or killed by another or by a [[crime]]: ''a murder victim''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person who suffers from an accident, disease or other condition.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A person who is cheated or tricked.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A living creature killed as a [[sacrifice]] in a religious rite.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[victimhood]]

+ * [[victimless]]

+ * [[nonvictim]]

+ * [[victimology]]

+ * [[victimize]]

+ * [[victimise]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vicarious]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}