bannimus

Etymology

Historically, from Medieval Latin bannimus (“we banish, we expel”), from bannō, bandō (“denounce, ban, banish, proclaim, proscribe”, verb), influenced in meaning by bannum (“ordinance, ban”), from Frankish *bannjan (“to proclaim, order or prohibit under penalty”), from Proto-Germanic *bannijaną (“to curse, damn”), *bannaną (“to request”). Cognate with Old High German bannen (“to order under penalty, proscribe, cast a spell on”), ban (“order under penalty”). More at ban.

bannimus means A permanent, publicly promulgated expulsion from the University of Oxford, whose public posting served to prevent the expelled person from claiming the cause of expulsion was unknown. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.

Why this word is great

BANNIMUS — [Noun] A formal and permanent expulsion from the University of Oxford, publicly proclaimed to prevent any claim of ignorance regarding the cause. From Medieval Latin bannimus ("we banish, we expel"), from bannō, bandō ("denounce, ban, banish, proclaim, proscribe"), influenced by bannum ("ordinance, ban"), from Frankish *bannjan ("to proclaim, order or prohibit under penalty"), from Proto-Germanic *bannijaną ("to curse, damn") and *bannaną ("to request"). Unlike "rustication," which implies a temporary, pastoral suspension, or "excommunication," which severs a spiritual bond, bannimus is a secular, scholastic damnation—irrevocable and trumpeted. It is the ceremonial reading of the name in the Sheldonian Theatre to a silent assembly of black gowns, the meticulous voiding of a name from the college books, and the ceremonial shutting of the great oak gates; the institution performing, with parchment and precedent, the surgical excision of its own flesh to preserve the body.

noun

A permanent, publicly promulgated expulsion from the University of Oxford, whose public posting served to prevent the expelled person from claiming the cause of expulsion was unknown.