manse means to excommunicate; curse. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 75 out of 100.
manse is pronounced /mæns/.
Why “manse” is a great word
MANSE — [Verb] To excommunicate or curse someone. From Middle English mansien, an apheretic variant of amansien, from Old English āmǣnsumian ("to excommunicate"). Unlike "excommunicate," which denotes a formal, canonical expulsion, or "damn," a general condemnation to perdition, to manse is to pronounce an archaic, ecclesiastical malediction. It is the rustle of parchment as a name is struck from the parish roll, the deliberate turning of backs at the village well, and the quiet, terrible sound of a priest's breath pronouncing a soul cast out—a solemn severance that leaves a silence where a soul once stood.
verb
- To excommunicate; curse.
noun
- A house inhabited by the minister of a parish.“He has caught a glint of steel in the manse gateway, but it is only the minister's bicycle still chained to the trunk of a monkeypuzzle tree as a precaution against unchristian covetousness.”
- A family dwelling, an owner-occupied house.
- A large house, a mansion.