Definition

1. Verb:
   • To kill or destroy (a person or thing) as a sacrificial offering, especially in a religious ceremony.
   • To offer or give up (something) as a sacrifice, often implying total destruction or renunciation.

Usage and Examples

• Verb:
  • In ancient rituals, some cultures would immolate animals to appease their gods.
  • The fanatic threatened to immolate himself in a public square as a political protest.
  • She felt she had immolated her personal happiness for the sake of her career.

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• The term often carries a formal, literary, or historical tone and is strongly associated with extreme acts of sacrifice, whether literal or figurative.
• It can be used in a figurative sense to describe sacrificing something valuable, such as one's principles, time, or opportunities, often with a sense of waste or destruction.
  • He immolated his reputation by defending the unpopular policy.

Variants and Related Words

• Immolation (noun): The act of immolating; a sacrifice.
  • The ritual required the immolation of a goat.
• Self-immolation (noun): The act of sacrificing oneself, especially by fire.
  • The monk's self-immolation was a shocking act of protest.

Synonyms

• Sacrifice: To offer or give up something valued.
• Offer up: To present something as an offering.
• Slay (in a ritual context): To kill violently.

Antonyms

• Preserve: To maintain or keep safe.
• Protect: To keep from harm.
• Cherish: To hold something dear.

Idioms and Phrases

• While not a common component of idioms, the word itself is used in specific contexts:
  • To immolate on the altar of (something): A figurative phrase meaning to sacrifice something for a cause, ideal, or other entity, often with a negative connotation.

    • He immolated his integrity on the altar of political ambition.

Verb

1. offer as a sacrifice by killing or by giving up to destruction
   • The Aztecs immolated human victims
   • immolate the valuables at the temple