Victim

How to spell victim

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce victim

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does victim mean?

1. nounA person who is harmed, injured, killed, or cheated as a result of an event, crime, or action.

Victim in a sentence

• The fraud victim reported the missing money to her bank.

• Every accident victim was treated at the local hospital.

Where does victim come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word descends from the Latin victima, which named an animal or living creature offered up in a religious sacrifice. The root sense was strictly ritual: the victima was the beast slain to please a god, quite distinct from any idea of misfortune. English took the word over in the early 1500s, at first keeping that sacrificial meaning, before it broadened to describe any person or thing harmed, cheated, or destroyed by another. The shift from 'sacrificial offering' to 'one who suffers harm' happened gradually as writers used the word figuratively for people destroyed by tyranny, accident, or disease. The spelling is fortunately phonetic and close to the Latin, so the only thing to watch is the single 'c' and the plain '-im' ending.

How the word is built

• victim (from Latin victima: a creature offered in sacrifice)
• no affix