Scapegoated

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Being unfairly blamed or punished for the actions of others occurs when an individual is made to take the fault for events beyond their control
2. A person may be wrongfully designated as the source of a problem, absorbing blame for issues they did not cause
3. An individual is subjected to unjust censure or punishment, taking on the blame for misdeeds or failures attributable to others in a given situation

Etymology: William Tyndale, the English biblical translator, coined "scapegoat" in 1530 while rendering a puzzling Hebrew term in Leviticus. The Hebrew word "azazél" appears in the Day of Atonement ritual, where a goat was sent away into the wilderness bearing the sins of the people. Tyndale understood the name as a combination of "ez," meaning goat, and "ozél," meaning escapes, and his English rendering joined "scape," an older spelling of "escape," with "goat." The result was a picture of an animal that carried the community's guilt out of sight. The word stayed close to that ritual sense for a while, but its meaning gradually moved from the animal to the person who absorbs blame. Someone who is scapegoated is made to bear responsibility that belongs to others, much as the goat bore the sins of Israel. The verb form follows naturally from the noun, so to scapegoat someone is to pin on them faults they did not commit.

Synonyms: blamed, punished, targeted

Antonyms: exonerated, absolved