Excommunication - Definitions from Dictionary.com

5 results for: Excommunication

Browse Nearby Entries

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

ex·com·mu·ni·ca·tion

Audio Help [eks-kuh-myoo-ni-key-shuh

n] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	the act of excommunicating.

2.	the state of being excommunicated.

3.	the ecclesiastical sentence by which a person is excommunicated.

[Origin: 1425–75; late ME < LL excommūnicātiōn- (s. of excommūnicātiō). See excommunicate, -ion

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Excommunication

To learn more about Excommunication visit Britannica.com

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

ex·com·mu·ni·ca·tion Audio Help (ěks'kə-myōō'nĭ-kā'shən) Pronunciation Key
n.

The act of excommunicating.
The state of being excommunicated.
A formal ecclesiastical censure that deprives a person of the right to belong to a church.

(Download Now or Buy the Book)

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
excommunication

1494, from L.L. excommunicatus, pp. of excommunicare, in Church L. "to expel from communion," lit. "put out of the community," from ex- "out" + communis "common" (see common).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

excommunication
noun
1.	the state of being excommunicated
2.	the act of banishing a member of a church from the communion of believers and the privileges of the church; cutting a person off from a religious society

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Excommunication

Ex`com*mu`ni*ca"tion\, n. [L. excommunicatio: cf. F. excommunication.] The act of communicating or ejecting; esp., an ecclesiastical censure whereby the person against whom it is pronounced is, for the time, cast out of the communication of the church; exclusion from fellowship in things spiritual.

Note: excommunication is of two kinds, the lesser and the greater; the lesser excommunication is a separation or suspension from partaking of the Eucharist; the greater is an absolute execution of the offender from the church and all its rights and advantages, even from social intercourse with the faithful.

Browse Nearby Entries: