I. ˈsa-krə-ˌfīs, also -fəs or -ˌfīz noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin sacrificium, from sacr-, sacer + facere to make — more at do
Date: 13th century
1. : an act of offering to a deity something precious ; especially : the killing of a victim on an altar
2. : something offered in sacrifice
3.
a. : destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else
b. : something given up or lost
the sacrifice s made by parents
4. : loss
goods sold at a sacrifice
5. : sacrifice hit
II. verb
( -ficed ; -fic·ing )
Date: 14th century
transitive verb
1. : to offer as a sacrifice
2. : to suffer loss of, give up, renounce, injure, or destroy especially for an ideal, belief, or end
3. : to sell at a loss
4. : to advance (a base runner) by means of a sacrifice hit
5. : to kill (an animal) as part of a scientific experiment
intransitive verb
1. : to make or perform the rites of a sacrifice
2. : to make a sacrifice hit in baseball
• sac·ri·fic·er noun