victim

Pluralvictims

1. 1
   harmednouncountable

   A person or thing that suffers harm or loss because of something else, such as a disaster, unfair treatment, hard conditions, or someone's mistakes, including one's own.

   Thousands of small farms were victims of the long drought in the region.

   He was the victim of an optical illusion and swore the road curved.

   UsageUsually a victim of something: victims of the drought. Set phrase: fall victim to something, such as an illness or a scam.

   Note

   No one need be to blame: the harm comes from a storm, a downturn, or simply bad luck. That lets the word reach institutions as well as people. A 1970 report to Congress on teaching technology called schools and colleges victims of conditions beyond their control. It also stretches to small mishaps, so a person can be the victim of an optical illusion. Source

   Checked 7 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • The cited wording describes schools and colleges as victims of conditions beyond their control. en.wiktionary.org
2. 2
   sacrificenouncountable

   A living being whose life is taken as a sacrificial offering, typically during a religious ceremony.

   Before the sacrifice, the priest sprinkled salted flour on the victim at the altar.

   Ancient texts specify which victims were acceptable to which gods.

   Similarsacrifice, offering

   Note

   Nothing in the oldest meaning is accidental: the victim is chosen, slain and offered, usually in a religious rite. In writing about ancient religion, the word names the offering itself rather than anyone wronged. Here the Latin victima behind the everyday meaning still shows plainly. When a historian writes of acceptable victims, the subject is which animals or people were considered suitable offerings, not who suffered.

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