Definition/Meaning of scapegoat

• English - Noun: scapegoat ( plural scapegoats ) 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 . 1646 , Sir Thomas Browne , Pseudodoxia Epidemica , Book II , ch 5 alluding herein unto the heart of man and the precious bloud of our Saviour , who was typified by the Goat that was slain , and the…
• English - Verb: scapegoat ( third-person singular simple present scapegoats , present participle scapegoating , simple past and past participle scapegoated ) ( transitive ) To punish someone for the error or errors of someone else; to make a scapegoat of . Don't scapegoat me for your mistake . 1950 , Rachel Davis DuBois , Neighbors in Action: A Manual for Local Leaders in Intergroup Relations , p37 People tend…
• English - Etymology: Coined by Tyndale from scape +‎ goat , interpreting Hebrew עזאזל ( “ Azazel ” ) (Leviticus 16:8, 10 , 26), from an interpretation as coming from עז ( ez , “ goat ” ) and אוזל ( ozél , “ escapes ” ). First attested 1530.
• English - Pronunciation: ( Canada , US ) IPA (key) : /ˈskeɪpˌɡoʊt/ ( UK ) IPA (key) : /ˈskeɪpˌɡəʊt/
• English - Related terms: scapegoater scapegoatism