victim: [15] Victim originally denoted a ‘person or animal killed as a sacrifice’; the more general notion of ‘someone who suffers from or is killed by something’ is a secondary development. The word was borrowed from Latin victima, which may be related to German weihen ‘consecrate’.
victim (n.)
late 15c., "living creature killed and offered as a sacrifice to a deity or supernatural power," from Latin victima "person or animal killed as a sacrifice." Perhaps distantly connected to Old English wig "idol," Gothic weihs "holy," German weihen "consecrate" (compare Weihnachten "Christmas") on notion of "a consecrated animal." Sense of "person who is hurt, tortured, or killed by another" is recorded from 1650s; meaning "person oppressed by some power or situation" is from 1718. Weaker sense of "person taken advantage of" is recorded from 1781.
例文
1. The victim suffered a dreadful injury and lost a lot of blood.
被害者は重傷を負い、大量に失血した。
2.We usually think of a victim of mugging as being someone elderly.
路上強盗の被害者は高齢者だと考えられています。
3.He was innocent and the victim of a frame-up.
彼は潔白であり、中傷されている。
4.The victim was outside a shop when he was attacked.
被害者が襲われた時、店の外にいた。
5.Almost without exception these women fall victim to exploitation.