victim

victim
victim (n.) late 15c., "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 1650s; meaning "person oppressed by some power or situation" is from 1718. Weaker sense of "person taken advantage of" is recorded from 1781.

Etymology dictionary. 2014.

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  • Victim — or victims may refer to: * in criminology, the victim of a crime. * in forensics, the name (VICTIMS Identification Project) of the National Database for Unidentified Human Remains in the United States * in religion, an animal sacrifice or human… …   Wikipedia

  • victim — victim, prey, quarry denote a person or animal killed or injured for the ends of the one who kills or injures. Victim primarily applies to a living creature, usually an animal, sometimes a person, that is killed and offered as a sacrifice to a… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • Victim — Vic tim, n. [L. victima: cf. F. victime.] [1913 Webster] 1. A living being sacrificed to some deity, or in the performance of a religious rite; a creature immolated, or made an offering of. [1913 Webster] Led like a victim, to my death I ll go.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Victim — Título Víctima Los Vulnerables Ficha técnica Dirección Basil Dearden Producción Michael Relph Guion …   Wikipedia Español

  • victim — ► NOUN 1) a person harmed, injured, or killed as a result of a crime or accident. 2) a person who is tricked or duped. 3) an animal or person killed as a religious sacrifice. ● fall victim to Cf. ↑fall victim to ORIGIN Latin victim …   English terms dictionary

  • victim — [vik′təm] n. [L victima, victim, beast for sacrifice < IE base * weik , to separate > OE wig, idol, wicce,WITCH] 1. a person or animal killed as a sacrifice to a god in a religious rite 2. someone or something killed, destroyed, injured, or …   English World dictionary

  • victim — I noun casualty, complainant, complaining witness, hostia, injured, prey, quarry, sufferer, target, unfortunate person, unlucky person, victima II index cadaver, captive, corpse …   Law dictionary

  • victim — [n] someone or something sacrificed, preyed upon babe in woods*, butt, casualty, clown, dupe, easy make*, easy mark*, fatality, fool, gambit, gopher*, gudgeon*, gull, hireling, hunted, immolation, injured party, innocent, mark, martyr, patsy,… …   New thesaurus

  • victim — vic|tim W2S2 [ˈvıktım] n [Date: 1400 1500; : Latin; Origin: victima person or animal killed as a religious offering ] 1.) someone who has been attacked, robbed, or murdered ▪ The victim received head injuries from which she died a week later.… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • victim — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ hapless, helpless, innocent, poor, unfortunate, unwilling ▪ He defrauded his innocent victims of millions. ▪ unsuspecting …   Collocations dictionary

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