sacrifice

/ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs/

//ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs// noun

"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

corpus weight

What this shows “sacrifice” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

sacrifice vs sacrifices
90% similar
sacrifice vs sacrificed
90% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for sacrifice
PropertyValue
Headwordsacrifice
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs/
Letters9
Frequency rank#4,409
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sacrifice”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).sacrificelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “ruling” (#4,408), “se” (#4,410), “sole” (#4,411). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sacrifice” is #4,409. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

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

  1. 1
    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.
  2. 2
    A human being or an animal, or a physical object or immaterial thing (see etymology 1 sense 1.3), offered to a deity.
  3. 3
    The offering of devotion, penitence, prayer, thanksgiving, etc., to a deity.
  4. 4
    Jesus Christ's voluntary offering of himself to God the Father to be crucified as atonement for the sins of humankind.
  5. 5
    The 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.
  6. 6
    The 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.
  7. 7
    Ellipsis 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”).
  8. 8
    In 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.
  9. 9
    A monetary loss incurred by selling something at less than its value; also, the thing thus sold.
  10. 10
    An 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 examples

These source excerpts show how sacrifice appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. 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.
  2. [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.

ascrifice2saccrifice1sacirfice2sacrfiice2sacrifcie2sacriffice1sacrificce1sacrifiec2
Edit distance from "sacrifice"

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"?
"sacrifice" is spelled S-A-C-R-I-F-I-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs/.
What does "sacrifice" mean?
As a noun, "sacrifice" means: 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.
What words are commonly confused with "sacrifice"?
"sacrifice" is commonly confused with "sacrifices", "sacrificed". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sacrifice"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sacrifice" is /ˈsæk.ɹɪ.faɪs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "sacrifice"?
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 *θak... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

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).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list