sacrifice
/ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs/
"sacrifice" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sacrifice” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #4,409. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #4,409
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Originally, the killing (and often burning) of a human being or an animal as an offering to a deity; later, also the offering of an object to a deity.
Corpus desk
Index EN-sacrifice · sacrifice · English
sacrifice · rank #4,409 · 13 variants · 2 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #4,409
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
- VAR-HIGH 13 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH ruling
Nearest frequency peer: ruling (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “sacrifice”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- remarkable
remarkable
95,595 corpus weight
- ruling
ruling
95,593 corpus weight
- sacrifice
sacrifice
95,592 corpus weight
- se
se
95,591 corpus weight
- sole
sole
95,590 corpus weight
- stopping
stopping
95,589 corpus weight
What this shows “sacrifice” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sacrifice |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #4,409 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sacrifice”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 13 spelling variants around sacrifice (IPA /ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #4,409 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for sacrifice, with forms such as "ascrifice", "saccrifice", and "sacirfice". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "sacrifices", "sacrificed", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k- Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Indo-European *sh₂krós Proto-Italic *sakros Old Latin sacros Latin sacerder. Latin sacrum Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der. Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁k-yé-ti Proto-Italic *θakjō Proto-I… The correct English form is sacrifice, spelled S-A-C-R-I-F-I-C-E.
Definition
- 1Originally, the killing (and often burning) of a human being or an animal as an offering to a deity; later, also the offering of an object to a deity.
- 2A human being or an animal, or a physical object or immaterial thing (see etymology 1 sense 1.3), offered to a deity.
- 3The offering of devotion, penitence, prayer, thanksgiving, etc., to a deity.
- 4Jesus Christ's voluntary offering of himself to God the Father to be crucified as atonement for the sins of humankind.
- 5The rite of Holy Communion or the Mass, regarded as (Protestantism) an offering of thanksgiving to God for Christ's crucifixion, or (Roman Catholicism) a perpetual re-presentation of Christ's sacrificial offering.
- 6The destruction or surrender of anything for the sake of something else regarded as more urgent or valuable; also, the thing destroyed or surrendered for this purpose.
- 7Ellipsis of sacrifice bunt or sacrifice hit (“a play in which the batter intentionally hits the ball softly with a hands-spread batting stance at the cost of an out to advance one or more runners”).
- 8In full sacrifice bid: a bid of a contract which is unlikely to be fulfilled, that a player makes in the hope that they will incur fewer penalty points than the points likely to be gained by opponents in making their contract.
- 9A monetary loss incurred by selling something at less than its value; also, the thing thus sold.
- 10An act of intentionally allowing one's piece to be captured by the opponent in order to improve one's position in the game.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sacrifice appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
They firſt vvaſh the dead body, paint him, clothe him, and ſo conueigh him to his Dormitorie, vvhich is ſpacious and neat, vvherein they bury his Armolets, Bracelets, Shackles and ſuch Treaſure, concluding their Ceremonies vvith Mimmicke geſtures and eiaculations: vvhich, vvith the Sacrifice of a Goat, vpon his Graue, puts a period to their Burials.
[T]he Beaſts they offered in ſacrifice, and the Gifts they offered, and their actions in VVorſhipping, vvere full of ſubmiſſion, and commemorative of benefits received, vvas according to reaſon, as proceeding from an intention to honour him [God].
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k- Proto-Indo-European *-rós Proto-Indo-European *sh₂krós Proto-Italic *sakros Old Latin sacros Latin sacerder. Latin sacrum Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁-der. Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁k-yé-ti Proto-Italic *θakjō Proto-Italic *fakjō Latin faciō Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ium Latin sacrificiumlbor. Old French sacrifisebor. Middle English sacrifice English sacrifice From Middle English sacrifice (“act of offering a life or object to a deity; the life or object so offered”), from Anglo-Norman sacrefiz, and Old French sacrifice, sacrifise (modern French sacrifice), from Latin sacrificium (“something offered to a deity, sacrifice”), from sacrum (“sacrifice, sacrificial rite”) + faciō (“to do, to make”) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). The noun sacrum is the nominalized neuter of the adjective sacer (“devoted to a deity for sacrifice; holy, sacred”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *seh₂k- (“ceremony, ritual; to make sacred”), and the verb faciō is ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do; to place, put”). Related Latin formations include sacrificus (“of or pertaining to sacrifice, sacrificial”) and sacrificō (“to make a sacrifice”). Cognates * Italian sagrifizio * Occitan sacrifici * Portuguese sacrificio * Spanish sacrificio
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ascrifice
- saccrifice
- sacirfice
- sacrfiice
- sacrifcie
- sacriffice
- sacrificce
- sacrifiec
- sacriifce
- sacrrifice
- sarcifice
- scarifice
- ssacrifice
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sacrifice - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "sacrifice"?
What does "sacrifice" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "sacrifice"?
How do you pronounce "sacrifice"?
What is the origin of the word "sacrifice"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sacrifice", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).