Word Study
scapegoat
CIDE DICTIONARY
scapegoat, n. [Scape (for escape) + goat.].
- A goat upon whose head were symbolically placed the sins of the people, after which he was suffered to escape into the wilderness. Lev. xvi. 10. [1913 Webster]
- Hence, a person or thing that is made to bear blame for others. Tennyson. [1913 Webster]
OXFORD DICTIONARY
scapegoat, n. & v.
--n.
1 a person bearing the blame for the sins, shortcomings, etc. of others, esp. as an expedient.
2 Bibl. a goat sent into the wilderness after the Jewish chief priest had symbolically laid the sins of the people upon it (Lev. 16).
--v.tr. make a scapegoat of.
--n.
1 a person bearing the blame for the sins, shortcomings, etc. of others, esp. as an expedient.
2 Bibl. a goat sent into the wilderness after the Jewish chief priest had symbolically laid the sins of the people upon it (Lev. 16).
--v.tr. make a scapegoat of.
Derivative
scapegoater n.
Etymology
scape (archaic, = escape) + GOAT, = the goat that escapes
THESAURUS
scapegoat
burnt offering, collection, drink offering, dupe, ex voto offering, fall guy, front, goat, gull, heave offering, hecatomb, holocaust, human sacrifice, immolation, incense, infanticide, libation, mactation, man of straw, mark, oblation, offering, offertory, patsy, peace offering, piacular offering, sacramental offering, sacrifice, self-immolation, self-sacrifice, straw man, sucker, suttee, sutteeism, target, thank offering, victim, votive offering, whipping boy, whole offeringROGET THESAURUS
scapegoat
Substitution
N substitution, commutation, supplanting, metaphor, metonymy, substitute, ersatz, makeshift, temporary expedient, replacement, succedaneum, shift, pis aller, stopgap, jury rigging, jury mast, locum tenens, warming pan, dummy, scapegoat, double, changeling, quid pro quo, alternative, representative, palimpsest, price, purchase money, consideration, equivalent, substituted, ersatz, phony, vicarious, subdititious, instead, in place of, in lieu of, in the stead of, in the room of, faute de mieux.Atonement
N atonement, reparation, compromise, composition, compensation, quittance, quits, expiation, redemption, reclamation, conciliation, propitiation, indemnification, redress, amends, apology, amende honorable, satisfaction, peace offering, sin offering, burnt offering, scapegoat, sacrifice, penance, fasting, maceration, sackcloth and ashes, white sheet, shrift, flagellation, lustration, purgation, purgatory.For further exploring for "scapegoat" in Webster Dictionary Online