Hypertext Webster Gateway: "sacrifice"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Sacrifice
The offering up of sacrifices is to be regarded as a divine
institution. It did not originate with man. God himself
appointed it as the mode in which acceptable worship was to be
offered to him by guilty man. The language and the idea of
sacrifice pervade the whole Bible.
Sacrifices were offered in the ante-diluvian age. The Lord
clothed Adam and Eve with the skins of animals, which in all
probability had been offered in sacrifice (Gen. 3:21). Abel
offered a sacrifice "of the firstlings of his flock" (4:4; Heb.
11:4). A distinction also was made between clean and unclean
animals, which there is every reason to believe had reference to
the offering up of sacrifices (Gen. 7:2, 8), because animals
were not given to man as food till after the Flood.
The same practice is continued down through the patriarchal
age (Gen. 8:20; 12:7; 13:4, 18; 15:9-11; 22:1-18, etc.). In the
Mosaic period of Old Testament history definite laws were
prescribed by God regarding the different kinds of sacrifices
that were to be offered and the manner in which the offering was
to be made. The offering of stated sacrifices became indeed a
prominent and distinctive feature of the whole period (Ex.
12:3-27; Lev. 23:5-8; Num. 9:2-14). (See {ALTAR}.)
We learn from the Epistle to the Hebrews that sacrifices had
in themselves no value or efficacy. They were only the "shadow
of good things to come," and pointed the worshippers forward to
the coming of the great High Priest, who, in the fullness of the
time, "was offered once for all to bear the sin of many."
Sacrifices belonged to a temporary economy, to a system of types
and emblems which served their purposes and have now passed
away. The "one sacrifice for sins" hath "perfected for ever them
that are sanctified."
Sacrifices were of two kinds: 1. Unbloody, such as (1)
first-fruits and tithes; (2) meat and drink-offerings; and (3)
incense. 2. Bloody, such as (1) burnt-offerings; (2)
peace-offerings; and (3) sin and trespass offerings. (See {OFFERINGS}.)
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Sacrifice \Sac"ri*fice\ (?; 277), v. t. [imp. & p. p.
{Sacrificed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Sacrificing}.] [From
{Sacrifice}, n.: cf. F. sacrifier, L. sacrificare; sacer
sacred, holy + -ficare (only in comp.) to make. See {-fy}.]
1. To make an offering of; to consecrate or present to a
divinity by way of expiation or propitiation, or as a
token acknowledgment or thanksgiving; to immolate on the
altar of God, in order to atone for sin, to procure favor,
or to express thankfulness; as, to sacrifice an ox or a
sheep.
Oft sacrificing bullock, lamb, or kid. --Milton.
2. Hence, to destroy, surrender, or suffer to be lost, for
the sake of obtaining something; to give up in favor of a
higher or more imperative object or duty; to devote, with
loss or suffering.
Condemned to sacrifice his childish years To
babbling ignorance, and to empty fears. --Prior.
The Baronet had sacrificed a large sum . . . for the
sake of . . . making this boy his heir. --G. Eliot.
3. To destroy; to kill. --Johnson.
4. To sell at a price less than the cost or the actual value.
[Tradesmen's Cant]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Sacrifice \Sac"ri*fice\ (?; 277), n. [OE. sacrifise, sacrifice,
F. sacrifice, fr. L. sacrificium; sacer sacred + facere to
make. See {Sacred}, and {Fact}.]
1. The offering of anything to God, or to a god; consecratory
rite.
Great pomp, and sacrifice, and praises loud, To
Dagon. --Milton.
2. Anything consecrated and offered to God, or to a divinity;
an immolated victim, or an offering of any kind, laid upon
an altar, or otherwise presented in the way of religious
thanksgiving, atonement, or conciliation.
Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood Of human
sacrifice. --Milton.
My life, if thou preserv'st my life, Thy sacrifice
shall be. --Addison.
3. Destruction or surrender of anything for the sake of
something else; devotion of some desirable object in
behalf of a higher object, or to a claim deemed more
pressing; hence, also, the thing so devoted or given up;
as, the sacrifice of interest to pleasure, or of pleasure
to interest.
4. A sale at a price less than the cost or the actual value.
[Tradesmen's Cant]
{Burnt sacrifice}. See {Burnt offering}, under {Burnt}.
{Sacrifice hit} (Baseball), in batting, a hit of such a kind
that the batter loses his chance of tallying, but enables
one or more who are on bases to get home or gain a base.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Sacrifice \Sac"ri*fice\, v. i.
To make offerings to God, or to a deity, of things consumed
on the altar; to offer sacrifice.
O teacher, some great mischief hath befallen To that
meek man, who well had sacrificed. --Milton.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
sacrifice
n 1: the act of losing or surrendering something as a penalty for
a mistake or fault or failure to perform etc. [syn: {forfeit},
{forfeiture}]
2: personnel that are sacrificed (e.g., surrendered or lost in
order to gain an objective)
3: a loss entailed by giving up or selling something at less
than its value; "he had to sell his car at a considerable
sacrifice"
4: the act of killing (an animal or person) in order to
propitiate a deity [syn: {ritual killing}]
5: (in baseball) an out that advances the base runners
v 1: endure the loss of; "He gave his life for his children"; "I
gave two sons to the war" [syn: {give}]
2: kill or destroy; "The animals were sacrificed after the
experiment"; "The general had to sacrifice several
soldiers to save the regiment"
3: sell at a loss
4: make a sacrifice of; in religious rituals
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