thông công
Definition
- Noun (Religious):
- Communion: The act of sharing or exchanging, especially in a spiritual context; most specifically, the Christian sacrament of the Eucharist.
- Excommunication: The ecclesiastical act of officially excluding someone from participation in the sacraments and services of the Christian Church.
Usage Examples
- Noun:
- Linh mục cử hành nghi thức thông công. (The priest performed the communion rite.)
- Giáo hội có thể ra hình phạt thông công đối với tín đồ phạm tội nặng. (The Church can impose excommunication on believers who commit grave sins.)
- Ông ấy bị rút phép thông công. (He was excommunicated.)
Advanced Usage
- The term is almost exclusively used in a formal Christian theological context. The specific meaning is determined by accompanying verbs: "cử hành thông công" (to administer communion) versus "rút phép thông công" (to excommunicate).
Variants and Related Words
- Bí tích Thông Công: The Sacrament of Communion (Eucharist).
- Rút phép thông công (verb phrase): To excommunicate.
Synonyms
- Communion: Eucharist, Holy Communion.
- Excommunication: Dismissal, expulsion from the church.
Notes on Usage
- "Thông công" is a specialized religious term. In modern everyday Vietnamese, the more common word for "communion" (as in the sacrament) is "lễ ban thánh thể" or simply "rước lễ". "Thông công" is often found in historical, formal doctrinal texts, or in the fixed phrase "rút phép thông công".
- The dual meaning stems from the core idea of "common union" or "sharing": it refers both to the state of being communion with the church and the penalty of being from that communion.