scape-animal

noun

An animal that has symbolically had human diseases and sins transferred to it and then is sent out alive into the wilderness to carry away the afflictions.

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Meanings

nounscape-animal (plural scape-animals)

plural scape-animals

  1. An animal that has symbolically had human diseases and sins transferred to it and then is sent out alive into the wilderness to carry away the afflictions.

    A very common one was to take an animal and, after various ceremonies, to sprinkle it with blood and let it loose as a scape-animal, carrying the disease away.

    1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 32

Origin

From scape + animal; modelled on scapegoat.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

scape-animal. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scape-animal

MLA

“scape-animal.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scape-animal. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “scape-animal,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/scape-animal.

Source: scape-animal on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.