Definition

1. Noun:
   • The formal act of expelling someone from a religious community, specifically from the sacraments and fellowship of a church: "Excommunication" refers to the official ecclesiastical censure that excludes a person from participating in the communion of the church and its rites.
   • The state of being so expelled: "Excommunication" also describes the condition or status of a person who has been cut off from a religious society.

Usage and Examples

• Noun:
  • The bishop pronounced the excommunication of the heretic. (The bishop formally declared the heretic to be expelled from the church.)
  • He lived in excommunication for many years before seeking reconciliation. (He lived in a state of being excluded from the church for many years.)

Advanced Usage

• "Major excommunication": A severe form that excludes a person from all sacraments and church community life.
  • The crime of apostasy traditionally warranted major excommunication.
• "Minor excommunication": A lesser form, often involving exclusion from receiving the Eucharist but not from the community.
  • The penitent was under minor excommunication until completing the prescribed acts of contrition.

Variants and Related Words

• Excommunicate (verb): To officially exclude someone from the sacraments and fellowship of a church.
  • The council voted to excommunicate the schismatic leader.
• Excommunicant (noun): A person who has been excommunicated.
  • The excommunicant was barred from entering the cathedral.

Synonyms

• Expulsion: The act of forcing someone to leave a place or organization.
• Ostracism: Exclusion from a society or group.
• Anathematization: The formal act of pronouncing a curse or excommunication.

Related Phrases and Idioms

• "To be under the ban of excommunication": To be officially subjected to this censure.
  • Any who followed the condemned doctrine were under the ban of excommunication.
• "Lift/remove the excommunication": To formally revoke the censure.
  • The Pope agreed to lift the excommunication after a public recantation.

Noun

1. 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
2. the state of being excommunicated