victim (English)

Where does "victim" come from?

The word 'victim' traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root *weyk-, meaning to separate or consecrate. This evolved into the Latin 'victima,' which referred specifically to an animal set aside for religious sacrifice, before entering Middle French and eventually English with its broader modern sense of someone harmed or destroyed by circumstances.

Full etymology tree

• victim (English), 'One that is harmed—killed, injured, subjected to oppression, deceit, or otherwise adversely affected—by someone or something, especially another person or event, force, or condition; in particular'
  • borrowed victime (Middle French)
    • inherited victima (Latin), 'sacrificial victim'
      • inherited *weyk- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to sift, separate'

Direct ancestors

• weyk- (Proto-Indo-European)
• victima (Latin)

Updated July 2026

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris