A free service provided by Writers Nexus International

Writing Resources:
  • New Novelist Software
  • Writer Circles
  • Author Me
  • FirstWriter.com
  • Novel Advice
  • Robin's Nest for Writers
  • The Scriptorium
  • Women on Writing


A Writer's Dictionary:

scapegoat Definition


Dictionary Home » Words Starting with S » scale insect ... scarification » scapegoat


scapegoat
noun
    1. Someone made to take the blame or punishment for the errors and mistakes of others.
      Thesaurus: victim, dupe, patsy (slang), fall guy; whipping boy, sacrifice.
    2. Bible.
      A goat on which the Jewish high priest symbolically loaded the sins of the people, which was then released into the wilderness.
Etymology: 16c: from escape + goat, invented by William Tindale (1530), as a translation of the Hebrew azazel, incorrectly believed to mean ‘the goat that escapes'.



Click Here