commination
/ˌkɒmɪˈneɪʃən/
commination means A formal denunciation; especially one threatening divine punishment. It carries an Arena rating of 1731, earned across 89 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, commination ranks #350 of 13,217 for The Improbable, #1,178 of 13,217 for Scariest Words, #1,661 of 13,217 for Most Malleable Words, #1,674 of 13,217 for Most Vivid Words.
commination is pronounced /ˌkɒmɪˈneɪʃən/.
Why “commination” is a great word
COMMINATION — [Noun] A formal denunciation, especially one threatening divine punishment or vengeance. From the Latin *comminātiō*, from *comminor* (“to threaten”). First attested in English in the late Middle English period (c. 1400–1450). Unlike a “denunciation,” which may be a civic rebuke, or an “admonition,” which is a corrective nudge, a commination is a ritualized pronouncement of celestial wrath. It is the priest’s anathema hurled from a stone pulpit, the prophet’s finger leveled at a corrupt city, the archaic liturgy intoning curses from the Book of Common Prayer—the formal channeling of thunder into grammar, a word that binds sin to consequence and closes the door on mercy.
Etymology
From Latin comminātiō, from comminor (“to threaten”).
noun
- A formal denunciation; especially one threatening divine punishment.“ROMEO Good gentle youth, tempt not a desp’rate man. / ... I beseech thee, youth, / Put not another sin upon my head / By urging me to fury... / PARIS I do defy thy commination / And apprehend thee for a felon here.”
Words closest in meaning
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