excommunicate

[ verb eks-kuh-myoo-ni-keyt; noun, adjective eks-kuh-myoo-ni-kit, -keyt ]

See synonyms for excommunicate on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),ex·com·mu·ni·cat·ed, ex·com·mu·ni·cat·ing.

to cut off from communion with a church or exclude from the sacraments of a church by ecclesiastical sentence.
to exclude or expel from membership or participation in any group, association, etc.: an advertiser excommunicated from a newspaper.

noun

an excommunicated person.

adjective

cut off from communion with a church; excommunicated.

Origin of excommunicate

1375–1425; late Middle English excommunicaten (v.) <Late Latin excommūnicātus literally, put out of the community (past participle of excommūnicāre), equivalent to ex-ex-¹ + commūn(is) common, public + -ic- (by analogy with commūnicāre to communicate) + -ātus-ate¹

Other words from excommunicate

ex·com·mu·ni·ca·tor, noun
un·ex·com·mu·ni·cat·ed, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for excommunicate

excommunicate

/ RC Church /

verb(ˌɛkskəˈmjuːnɪˌkeɪt)

(tr) to sentence (a member of the Church) to exclusion from the communion of believers and from the privileges and public prayers of the Church

adjective(ˌɛkskəˈmjuːnɪkɪt, -ˌkeɪt)

having incurred such a sentence

noun(ˌɛkskəˈmjuːnɪkɪt, -ˌkeɪt)

an excommunicated person

Origin of excommunicate

C15: from Late Latin excommūnicāre, literally: to exclude from the community, from Latin commūnis common

Derived forms of excommunicate

excommunicable, adjective
excommunication, noun
excommunicative or excommunicatory, adjective
excommunicator, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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