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Heir vs Sacrifice - What's the difference?

heir | sacrifice |

As nouns the difference between heir and sacrifice

is that heir is someone who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another while sacrifice is the offering of anything to a god; consecratory rite.

As a verb sacrifice is

to offer (something) as a gift to a deity.

heir

English

Noun

(en noun) (Inheritance)
  • Someone who inherits, or is designated to inherit, the property of another.
  • *(William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • *:I am my father's heir and only son.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1959, author=(Georgette Heyer), title=(The Unknown Ajax), chapter=1
  • , passage=And no use for anyone to tell Charles that this was because the Family was in mourning for Mr Granville Darracott […]: Charles might only have been second footman at Darracott Place for a couple of months when that disaster occurred, but no one could gammon him into thinking that my lord cared a spangle for his heir .}}
  • One who inherits, or has been designated to inherit, a hereditary title or office.
  • A successor in a role, representing continuity with the predecessor.
  • *(Alexander Pope) (1688-1744)
  • *:And I his heir in misery alone.
  • *
  • *:"I wish we were back in Tenth Street. But so many children came"
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-05-11, volume=407, issue=8835, page=12, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= What a waste , passage=India is run by gerontocrats and epigones: grey hairs and groomed heirs .}}

    sacrifice

    Verb

    (sacrific)
  • To offer (something) as a gift to a deity.
  • To give away (something valuable) to get at least a possibility to gain something else of value (such as self-respect, trust, love, freedom, prosperity), or to avoid an even greater loss.
  • * “Don’t you break my heart / ’Cause I sacrifice to make you happy.” - From the song Baby Don’t You Do It by Marvin Gaye
  • * “God sacrificed His only-begotten Son, so that all people might have eternal life.” (a paraphrase of John 3:16).
  • * Prior
  • Condemned to sacrifice his childish years / To babbling ignorance, and to empty fears.
  • * G. Eliot
  • The Baronet had sacrificed a large sum making this boy his heir.
  • To trade (a value of higher worth) for one of lesser worth in order to gain something else valued more such as an ally or business relationship or to avoid an even greater loss; to sell without profit to gain something other than money.
  • * (Ayn Rand), Atlas Shrugged
  • If you exchange a penny for a dollar, it is not a sacrifice ; if you exchange a dollar for a penny, it is.
  • (chess) To intentionally give up (a piece) in order to improve one’s position on the board.
  • (baseball) To advance (a runner on base) by batting the ball so it can be caught or fielded, placing the batter out, but with insufficient time to put the runner out.
  • To sell at a price less than the cost or actual value.
  • To destroy; to kill.
  • (Johnson)

    Synonyms

    * (sell without profit) sell at a loss

    Derived terms

    * sacrificial

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The offering of anything to a god; consecratory rite.
  • * Milton
  • Great pomp, and sacrifice , and praises loud, / To Dagon.
  • Destruction or surrender of anything for the sake of something else; devotion of some desirable object in behalf of a higher object, or to a claim deemed more pressing.
  • the sacrifice of one's spare time in order to volunteer
  • Something sacrificed.
  • * Milton
  • Moloch, horrid king, besmeared with blood / Of human sacrifice .
  • (baseball) A play in which the batter is intentionally out in order that runners can advance around the bases.
  • A loss of profit.
  • (slang, dated) A sale at a price less than the cost or the actual value.