Why Do We Say “Scapegoat”?

Ever notice how one person gets blamed even when the whole team was responsible?
That unlucky person becomes the scapegoat. But where does that strange word come from?
It sounds like something from a farm — and in a way, it is.

What It Means Today

A scapegoat is someone who gets blamed for something, even if it wasn’t their fault.
It usually happens when people want to protect themselves, their reputation, or the group, so they single out one person to take the fall.

Example:
“The manager made the mistake, but they fired the intern as the scapegoat.”

It’s an unfair but familiar story in offices, schools, families, and politics — blame has to go somewhere, and often it lands on the easiest target.

Where It Came From

The term “scapegoat” comes from a ritual described in the Hebrew Bible, in the Book of Leviticus.
Once a year, during the Day of Atonement, a priest would symbolically place all the sins of the community onto a live goat. That goat was then sent into the wilderness, carrying the people’s sins away from the camp.

The goat itself hadn’t done anything wrong. It was simply chosen to bear everyone else’s guilt and take it far away — literally becoming the “escape goat,” which later shortened to “scapegoat.”

How It Changed

Over the centuries, “scapegoat” took on a broader meaning. It left the world of rituals and entered everyday language as a metaphor for anyone unfairly blamed for the mistakes or wrongdoings of others.

Today we use it in nearly every context — from office politics to world politics — to describe someone who ends up punished for a problem they didn’t create.

In Easy Words

A scapegoat is a person who gets blamed for other people’s mistakes.
The word comes from an old ritual where a goat was sent into the wilderness carrying everyone’s guilt.
It’s a reminder that blaming one person might feel convenient, but it rarely solves the real problem.