excommunicate
/ˌɛkskəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/
excommunicate means to officially exclude someone from membership of a church or religious community. It carries an Arena rating of 1648, earned across 3 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, excommunicate ranks #477 of 13,217 for Scariest Words, #958 of 13,217 for Most Storied Words, #1,108 of 13,217 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #1,888 of 13,217 for Most Incisive Words.
excommunicate is pronounced /ˌɛkskəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/.
Why “excommunicate” is a great word
To formally exclude a person from the sacraments and life of a religious community by ecclesiastical sentence. It derives from Ecclesiastical Latin excommunicātus, the perfect passive participle of excommunicō ("to put out of the community, expel from communion"), from ex- ("out of") + communicō ("to share, to communicate"). Unlike "disfellowship," which often suggests a temporary or informal rift, or "defrock," which pertains strictly to the stripping of clerical office, to excommunicate is to enact a solemn, sacramental severance. It is the extinguished candle on the altar, the barred gate to the communal table, the deliberate omission of a name from the prayer roll—the silent, structured creation of an absence where grace was meant to flow.
Etymology
From Ecclesiastical Latin excommunicātus, perfect passive participle of excommunicō (“excommunicate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). By surface analysis, ex- + communicate.
verb
- To officially exclude someone from membership of a church or religious community.““Perhaps it is because I have been excommunicated. It’s absurd, but I feel like the Jackdaw of Rheims.” ¶ She winced and bowed her head. Each time that he spoke flippantly of the Church he caused her pain.”
- To exclude from any other group; to banish.“Samois includes celebate ^([sic]), heterosexual and bisexual women as well as lesbians, and I feel very strongly that this is the wisest choice. Our community is so fragile that we can't afford to fragment it by excommunicating non-lesbian women.”
adj
- Excommunicated.“[…]the iewes had conſpyred allredy that yff eny man did confeſſe that he was Chriſt / he ſhulde be excommunicat out of the Sinagoge.”
noun
- An excommunicated person.
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