Definition

Noun: A person who excommunicates; someone who formally excludes an individual from membership in a religious community, especially in the Christian church, by pronouncing a sentence of excommunication.

Usage Examples

• (The bishop performed the formal act of excommunication.)
• (The person who excommunicated had authority over religious membership.)
• (The person pronouncing excommunication spoke the formal words.)

Advanced Usage

• "the excommunicator's role": the function or position of a person who carries out excommunication.

  • The excommunicator's role was often feared and respected within the community. (The position carried significant social and spiritual weight.)

• "to act as an excommunicator": to perform the act of excommunication.

  • He was appointed to act as an excommunicator for the diocese. (He was given the authority to exclude members from the church.)

Variants and Related Words

• Excommunicate (verb): to officially exclude someone from participation in the sacraments and services of the Christian church.

  • The church voted to excommunicate the rebellious priest. (To formally remove from church membership.)

• Excommunication (noun): the act of excommunicating; the state of being excommunicated.

  • Excommunication was a severe punishment in the medieval church. (The formal exclusion from the church.)

Synonyms

• Expeller: one who forces someone to leave a group or place.
• Outcaster: one who casts someone out from a community (less common).
• Banisher: one who officially sends someone away or prohibits them from returning.

Related Idioms

• To pronounce the ban: to formally declare someone excluded from the church, similar to the act of an excommunicator.

  • The priest pronounced the ban against the dissenter. (He formally excommunicated the person.)

• To cut off from the church: to exclude someone from religious fellowship.

  • The council cut him off from the church for his teachings. (They excommunicated him.)