This pure victim, this holy victim, this spotless victim,

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haastiin

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In Latin the word translated in English as “victim” is hostiam. In every other language i have consulted (French, German, Spanish) it is translated as Sacrifice. It is the same in Romans 12:1 as well. Why do we say “victim” in English and “Sacrifice” in other languages?
 
In previous translations of the Roman Missal in English, the translation of hostiam was Sacrifice and not Victim. However, it has been changed to the word “Victim” for it is a more literal translation, and is more in line with the theology found in the original Latin.

While the word hostiam can indeed be translated to the modern-day understanding of “Sacrifice” in English, it somehow loses the connotation when the roman canon was formed that hostiam is a sacrificial victim. You could note that sacrificial is an adjective. You see, this is really a problem of translation. I don’t know about the case in Spanish, French, and German but it could be that the distinction between Sacrifice and Victim in their languages are not really that far off.
Benadam said:
Victim implies involuntary suffering. Sacrifice implies voluntary suffering. That might be why
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This is in fact the translation problem in English. By semantic changes throughout time, the definition of the two differed much more.
 
I can remember a lot of years ago hearing Jesus being referred to as “The Perfect Victim”.
 
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