Exploring the Connotations of Sacrifice --- Thanks, Biljana. I assumed that the negative connotation of self-sacrifice was the general interpretation. I added the text to provide an association with the origin of the word ‘sacrifice.”

For those interested in philology (the origin of words) the term sacrifice derives from the Latin sacrificium, which is a combination of the words sacer, meaning something set apart from the secular or profane for the use of supernatural powers, and facere, meaning “to make.”

The word literally means “to make sacred”’; but yes “self-abasement” is the more usual understanding. I am not ‘banging the shoe’ but admittedly standing on tradition.

Source author: John D. Hipsley jhipsley@igc.org