scapegoat

Meaning

Noun

1. In the Mosaic Day of Atonement ritual, a goat symbolically imbued with the sins of the people, and sent out alive into the wilderness while another was sacrificed.
2. Someone unfairly blamed or punished for some failure.

Verb

To unfairly blame or punish someone for some failure; to make a scapegoat of.

Synonyms

whipping boy

sacrifice

fall guy

victim

substitute

punching bag

sacrificial animal

dupe

sacrificial lamb

goat

🐐

gull

lightning rod

patsy

prey

stooge

sufferer

Translations

bouc émissaire

Sündenbock

capro espiatorio

chivo expiatorio

zondebok

αποδιοπομπαίος τράγος

cabeza de turco

günah keçisi

bode expiatório

şamar oğlanı

Prügelknabe

se disculper en incriminant quelqu’un d’autre

faire de quelqu’un un bouc émissaire

tête de Turc

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈskeɪpˌɡoʊt/

Etymology

Cognate with English: scapegrace

In summary

From scape + goat; coined by English biblical scholar and translator William Tyndale, interpreting Biblical Hebrew עֲזָאזֵל (“azazél”) (Leviticus 16:8, 10, 26), from an interpretation as coming from עֵז (ez, “goat”) and אוזל (ozél, “escapes”). First attested 1530. Compare English scapegrace, scapegallows.