immolate

[ im-uh-leyt ]

See synonyms for immolate on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),im·mo·lat·ed, im·mo·lat·ing.

to sacrifice.
to kill as a sacrificial victim, as by fire; offer in sacrifice.

to destroy by fire.

Origin of immolate

1540–50; <Latin immolātus, past participle of immolāre to sprinkle with holy meal prior to sacrificing, sacrifice, equivalent to im-im-¹ + mol(a) sacrificial barley cake, literally, millstone (see mill¹) + -ātus-ate¹

Other words from immolate

im·mo·la·tor, noun
un·im·mo·lat·ed, adjective

Words that may be confused with immolate

emulate, immolate

Words Nearby immolate

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use immolate in a sentence

As their ability to immolate tin improved, the process produced more debris than the hydrogen could clean up.
Inside the machine that saved Moore’s Law | Clive Thompson | October 27, 2021 | MIT Technology Review
They built multiple fires inside the Capitol, immolating the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress and the splendid chambers of the House and Senate.
In 1814, British forces burned the U.S. Capitol | Joel Achenbach | January 6, 2021 | Washington Post
He was threatening to immolate both of them when police ended a standoff by grabbing him.
Indiana Serial Killer’s Confession Was Just the Start | Michael Daly | October 21, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Lastly, President Obama should ask his counterpart what is driving young Tibetan monks and nuns to immolate themselves in protest.
Obama, Don’t Let Xi Forget China’s Human Rights Record | Yang Jianli | June 8, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
But no one expected him to self-immolate in less than a week.
Newt Gingrich Presidential Campaign Goes Kaboom | Mark McKinnon | May 18, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST

A people that continually provoke me to anger before my face, that immolate in gardens, and sacrifice upon bricks.
The Bible, Douay-Rheims Version | Various
It will not be the first time that humanity has preferred to immolate a god rather than admit its own guilt.
Catherine de' Medici | Honore de Balzac
After having sacrificed her husband to her mother, Mme. Fauvel was about to immolate her husband and children for Raoul.
File No. 113 | Emile Gaboriau
And for thee, Glaucus, are there not enough Achaeans, that thou mayest immolate whom thou wishest?
The Aesthetical Essays | Friedrich Schiller
She spurns the doctrine that it is woman's position to abnegate and to immolate herself.
The Salamander | Owen Johnson

British Dictionary definitions for immolate

immolate

/ (ˈɪməʊˌleɪt) /

verb(tr)

to kill or offer as a sacrifice, esp by fire
literary to sacrifice (something highly valued)

Origin of immolate

C16: from Latin immolāre to sprinkle an offering with sacrificial meal, sacrifice, from im- (in) + mola spelt grain; see mill 1

Derived forms of immolate

immolation, noun
immolator, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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