'Excommunication' definitions:

Definition of 'excommunication'

(from WordNet)
noun
The state of being excommunicated [syn: excommunication, exclusion, censure]
noun
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 [syn: excommunication, excision]

Definition of 'Excommunication'

From: GCIDE
  • Excommunication \Ex`com*mu`ni*ca"tion\, n. [L. excommunicatio: cf. F. excommunication.] The act of communicating or ejecting; esp., an ecclesiastical censure whereby the person against whom it is pronounced is, for the time, cast out of the communication of the church; exclusion from fellowship in things spiritual. [1913 Webster]
  • Note: excommunication is of two kinds, the lesser and the greater; the lesser excommunication is a separation or suspension from partaking of the Eucharist; the greater is an absolute execution of the offender from the church and all its rights and advantages, even from social intercourse with the faithful. [1913 Webster]

Words containing 'Excommunication'