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 (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.
实用例句
1. The victim suffered a dreadful injury and lost a lot of blood.
受害者受了重伤，大量失血。
来自柯林斯例句
2. We usually think of a victim of mugging as being someone elderly.
我们通常以为被拦路抢劫的受害者是老年人。
来自柯林斯例句
3. He was innocent and the victim of a frame-up.
他是清白的，是受人诬陷的。
来自柯林斯例句
4. The victim was outside a shop when he was attacked.
被害人遇袭时正在一家商店的外面。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Almost without exception these women fall victim to exploitation.
