- victim
[victim 词源字典] - victim: [15] Victim originally denoted a ‘person or animal killed as a sacrifice’; the more general notion of ‘someone who suffers from or is killed by something’ is a secondary development. The word was borrowed from Latin victima, which may be related to German weihen ‘consecrate’.
[victim etymology, victim origin, 英语词源] - victim (n.)
- late 15c., "living creature killed and offered as a sacrifice to a deity or supernatural power," from Latin victima "person or animal killed as a sacrifice." Perhaps distantly connected to Old English wig "idol," Gothic weihs "holy," German weihen "consecrate" (compare Weihnachten "Christmas") on notion of "a consecrated animal." Sense of "person who is hurt, tortured, or killed by another" is recorded from 1650s; meaning "person oppressed by some power or situation" is from 1718. Weaker sense of "person taken advantage of" is recorded from 1781.
