English
victim
Victim comes from Latin victima ‘sacrificial animal’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to sift, separate’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-‘to sift’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvictima‘sacrificial animal’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600victime
- Englishearliest quotation 1838victim
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*weyk-‘to sift’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvictima‘sacrificial animal’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600victime
- Englishearliest quotation 1838victim
Earliest quotation: 1838, The Lady's Book: “The villian, perceiving his danger, groped about in search…”
The story
Although this root and victor drive from homophonous PIE roots, they are traditionally reconstructed as separate words and thus not cognates.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *weyk- ‘to sift, separate’
province, weakness, witch, victory, convince, iconic, icon, wicked, wo, victor, conviction, invincible, wight, weakly, convict, vicar, vanquish, wile, eviction, ancona, waw, evict, 32 more
Today it means
noun 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
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *weyk- / victim