n. 1
Originally, the killing (and often burning) of a human being or an animal as an offering to a deity; later, also the offering of an object to a deity.
v. 1
To offer (a human being or an animal, or an object) to a deity.

Related words

Word family: sack sacrificable sacrificer sacred
Phrases: ultimate sacrifice sacrifice bunt supreme sacrifice sacrifice area sacrifice fly sacrifice hit sacrifice zone salary sacrifice

Forms

Plural: sacrifices → losses, forfeits, forfeitures, devotions…
Past participle: sacrificed
e.g. sacrificed → given, surrendered, offered, dedicated…

Choose the right word

Sacrifice or Yield?

We sacrifice something precious through error, friendship, or duty, yield to convincing reasons, a stronger will, winsome persuasion, or superior force.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Example sentences

forfeit She came forth to forfeit her fourth-place medal.
save The word processor will save you a lot of trouble.
offering Sami was constantly offering drinks to his guests.
devotion The senator avowed his devotion to his constituents.
immolation The Heavenly Timber Immolation is a kind of ancient ritual.

Popularity over time

Word	1850 → 2019	Trend
sacrifice		rising
forfeit		steady
save		rising
offering		rising
devotion		steady
immolation		rising

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

By length

4 letters: give¹, loss¹, save¹
5 letters: offer²
6 letters: victim², devote²
7 letters: forfeit²
8 letters: offering³, devotion³, dedicate³, oblation, immolate³, hecatomb
9 letters: surrender³, holocaust³
10 letters: forfeiture³, immolation⁴, consecrate³
11 letters: destruction³

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (offer² = 2 syllables).

In other languages

Français: sacrifice
Italiano: sacrificio
Español: sacrificio