interdict means A papal decree prohibiting the administration of the sacraments from a political entity under the power of a single person (e.g., a king or an oligarchy with similar powers). Extreme unction/Anointing of the Sick is excepted. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 73 out of 100.
interdict is pronounced /ˈɪntɚdɪkt/.
Why “interdict” is a great word
INTERDICT — [Noun/Verb] An authoritative prohibition, or the act of imposing one; historically, a formal ecclesiastical censure barring persons or places from sacraments and Christian burial. From Middle English entrediten, from Old French entredire (“forbid”), from Latin interdīcō (“prohibit, forbid”), from inter- (“between, against”) + dīcō (“say, declare”), from Proto-Indo-European *deyḱ- (“to show, point out”). Unlike “forbid,” which implies a direct, personal command, or “prohibit,” a general legal injunction, an interdict carries the chill of institutional sanction, the weight of dogma made manifest. It is the bishop’s seal on a silent font, the halted supply train to a besieged city, and the invisible barrier of a quarantine line—a deliberate void carved from the fabric of communion. To live under interdict is to feel the machinery of exclusion grinding quietly at the edges of your world.
noun
- A papal decree prohibiting the administration of the sacraments from a political entity under the power of a single person (e.g., a king or an oligarchy with similar powers). Extreme unction/Anointing of the Sick is excepted.
- An injunction.“The Fife County Council, and other objectors, were successful in July [1950] in obtaining an interim interdict against this decision, but the Court of Session withdrew the interdict in January, and it was then stated that a civil court had no jurisdiction in the matter. […] Mr. Waller adds that when the railway was authorised in 1897, one of the clauses of the Act authorising the transfer of the l”
verb
- To exclude (someone or somewhere) from participation in church services; to place under a religious interdict.“An archbishop [may not only] excommunicate and interdict his suffragans, but his Vicar-General may also do the same.”
- To forbid (an action or thing) by formal or legal sanction.“Charged not to touch the interdicted tree.”
- To forbid (someone) from doing something.“Do not look so alarmed, Madame; every possible precaution has been taken to prevent infection. I have given the strictest orders to interdict any communication between her attendants and those devoted to your service.”
- To impede (an enemy); to interrupt or destroy (enemy communications, supply lines etc).“Grant did not cease his efforts to interdict Lee's supply lines and break through the defenses.”