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exorcise

 [ek-sawr-sahyz, -ser-]   Example Sentences Origin

ex·or·cise

   [ek-sawr-sahyz, -ser-]
verb (used with object), -cised, -cis·ing.
1.
to seek to expel (an evil spirit) by adjuration or religious or solemn ceremonies: to exorcise a demon.
2.
to free (a person, place, etc.) of evil spirits or malignant influences.
Also, ex·or·cize.

Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin exorcizāre < Greek exorkízein, equivalent to ex- ex-3 + (h)orkízein to cause (someone) to swear an oath

Related forms
ex·or·cise·ment, noun
ex·or·cis·er, noun
un·ex·or·cised, adjective

Can be confused: exercise, exorcise (see synonym note at exercise).
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Exorcise is one of our favorite verbs.
So is yaff. Does it mean:
to bark; yelp.
to chew (food) slowly and thoroughly.
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Example Sentences
  • Otherwise her story serves only to exorcise her own demons and leaves the helpless stepchild to fend for herself.
  • Clever encoding and signal-processing algorithms can exorcise such ghosts.
  • The church had specific rituals to exorcise evil by casting demons out of an afflicted person's body.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
exorcize or exorcise (ˈɛksɔːˌsaɪz)
 
—vb
(tr) to expel or attempt to expel (one or more evil spirits) from (a person or place believed to be possessed or haunted), by prayers, adjurations, and religious rites
 
[C15: from Late Latin exorcizāre, from Greek exorkizein, from ex-1 + horkizein to adjure]
 
exorcise or exorcise
 
—vb
 
[C15: from Late Latin exorcizāre, from Greek exorkizein, from ex-1 + horkizein to adjure]
 
'exorcizer or exorcise
 
—n
 
'exorciser or exorcise
 
—n
 
'exorcism or exorcise
 
—n
 
'exorcist or exorcise
 
—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

exorcise
c.1400, "to invoke spirits," from O.Fr. exorciser, from L.L. exorcizare, from Gk. exorkizein "exorcise, bind by oath" (see exorcism). Sense of "calling up evil spirits to drive them out" became diminant 16c. Related: Exorcised; exorcising.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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