RALPH: Sacrifice derives from the latin sacri- sacred, and -ficus, doing. Originally, It was the sacred act of slaughtering an animal and offering it to God.

SARAH: By Shakespeare’s time, “to make sacrifice” was used more generally for any act of atonement for one’s sins, but always in a religious context.

RALPH: Capulet is referring to the cost of the gold effigies that he and Montague will offer as atonements for the sin of their mutual hatred.

SARAH: But Capulet is also suggesting that Romeo and Juliet were the human “sacrifices of their enmity”.

RALPH: This line is the first instance of the word sacrifice in one of its modern senses. Here it refers to someone given up for a cause, whether it be a good cause or a bad one.