sacrifice

Originally, the killing (and often burning) of a human being or an animal as an offering to a deity; later, also the offering of an object to a deity.

They firſt vvaſh the dead body, paint him, clothe him, and ſo conueigh him to his Dormitorie, vvhich is ſpacious and neat, vvherein they bury his Armolets, Bracelets, Shackles and ſuch Treaſure, concluding their Ceremonies vvith Mimmicke geſtures and eiaculations: vvhich, vvith the Sacrifice of a Goat, vpon his Graue, puts a period to their Burials.

[T]he Beaſts they offered in ſacrifice, and the Gifts they offered, and their actions in VVorſhipping, vvere full of ſubmiſſion, and commemorative of benefits received, vvas according to reaſon, as proceeding from an intention to honour him [God].

A human being or an animal, or a physical object or immaterial thing (see etymology 1 sense 1.3), offered to a deity.

O th'inchaunting vvords of that baſe ſlaue, / Made him to thinke Epeus pine-tree Horſe [i.e., the Trojan Horse] / A ſacrifize t'appeaſe Mineruas vvrath: […]

Make of your Prayers one ſvveet Sacrifice, / And lift my Soule to Heauen.

The offering of devotion, penitence, prayer, thanksgiving, etc., to a deity.

Let vs therfore by him [Jesus] offre allwayes vnto God the ſacrifice of prayſe: that is to ſaye, the frute of thoſe lippes which confeſſe his name.

[W]e thy humble ſeruauntes […] entierely deſiryng thy fatherly goodnes, mercifully to accepte this our Sacrifice of praiſe and thankes geuing: […]

Jesus Christ's voluntary offering of himself to God the Father to be crucified as atonement for the sins of humankind.

The rite of Holy Communion or the Mass, regarded as (Protestantism) an offering of thanksgiving to God for Christ's crucifixion, or (Roman Catholicism) a perpetual re-presentation of Christ's sacrificial offering.

The pretensions of the holy see, the authority of tradition, purgatory, transubstantiation, the sacrifice of the mass, […] were copiously discussed.

To offer (a human being or an animal, or an object) to a deity.

And there ſhall bee no leauened bread ſeene with thee in all thy coaſts ſeuen dayes, neither ſhall there any thing of the fleſh, which thou ſacrificedſt the firſt day at Euen, remaine all night, vntill the morning.

[B]oth the muſes and the graces are his hard Miſtriſſes, though he daily Invocate them, though he ſacrifize Hecatombs, they ſtil look a ſquint, […]

To destroy or kill (a human being or an animal); specifically (sciences), to kill (an animal) for a scientific experiment or test.

Condemn'd to ſacrifice his childiſh Years / To babling Ign'rance, and to empty Fears; […]

Heaven chastises thee, Baharkan! Thou wast cruel, vindictive, and inexorable. With thee humanity had no value. Thou sacrificedst thy brethren on the slightest suspicion.

To destroy or surrender (something) for the sake of something else regarded as more urgent or valuable.

Venison has many advantages over meat from factory farms, although it still requires a hunter to sacrifice the life of a deer.

Deuce take lady S⁠⸺; and if I know D⁠⸺⁠y, he is a rawboned faced fellow, not handsome, nor visibly so young as you say: she sacrifices two thousand pounds a year, and keeps only six hundred.

Of a batter: to advance (one or more runners on base) by batting the ball so it can be fielded, placing the batter out but with insufficient time to put the runner(s) out.

To sell (something) at less than its value, thus incurring a monetary loss.

A newspaper advertisement announces that "A professional gentleman is instructed to sacrifice Three young sound Horses at half their cost." We wonder what deity horses could be sacrificed to?