Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Scapegoat

Scapegoat , noun

[Scape (for escape) + goat.]

1.
(Jewish Antiquities) A goat upon whose head were symbolically placed the sins of the people, after which he was suffered to escape into the wilderness. — Lev. xvi. 10
2.
Hence, a person or thing that is made to bear blame for others. — Tennyson