What does it mean to sacrifice a permanent?

When a player sacrifices a permanent, it means that the permanent is sent to its owner's graveyard. This is a specific action defined in the rules of Magic: The Gathering, where "sacrifice" refers to an action that results in the permanent being put into the graveyard as a cost or effect.

Sacrificing a permanent typically involves a game mechanic that requires you to choose one of your permanents (e.g., creatures, artifacts, enchantments) to send to the graveyard, which can then trigger various effects or fulfill a condition of a spell or ability. This process does not destroy the permanent in the traditional sense, as destruction usually allows for the possibility of certain effects (like regeneration) to occur. Instead, sacrificing bypasses those effects directly by putting the permanent into the graveyard.

The other options misrepresent the action of sacrificing a permanent. For example, removing a permanent from the game corresponds to exile rather than sacrificing. Returning it to the owner's hand indicates a different action altogether—this is often associated with bounce effects. Similarly, placing a permanent on the top of its owner's library is not related to sacrificing; it represents a separate effect that would shuffle cards around the library but does not involve moving the permanent to