excommunicate

English

Pronunciation

Verb

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɛkskəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɛkskəˈmjunəkeɪt/

• Audio (General American):

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• Audio (US):

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Adjective and noun

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌɛkskəˈmjuːnɪkət/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌɛkskəˈmjunəkət/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Etymology 1

From Ecclesiastical Latin excommunicātus, perfect passive participle of excommunicō (“excommunicate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). By surface analysis, ex- +‎ communicate.

Verb

excommunicate (third-person singular simple present excommunicates, present participle excommunicating, simple past and past participle excommunicated)

1. (transitive) To officially exclude someone from membership of a church or religious community.
   • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXXVII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 294:

     “Perhaps it is because I have been excommunicated. It’s absurd, but I feel like the Jackdaw of Rheims.” ¶ She winced and bowed her head. Each time that he spoke flippantly of the Church he caused her pain.

2. (transitive, historical or figurative) To exclude from any other group; to banish.
   • 1982 December 18, Pat Califa, “Open Policy”, in Gay Community News, volume 10, number 22, page 5:

     Samois includes celebate ^[sic], heterosexual and bisexual women as well as lesbians, and I feel very strongly that this is the wisest choice. Our community is so fragile that we can't afford to fragment it by excommunicating non-lesbian women.

   • 1987, InfoWorld, volume 9, number 37, page 46:

     Although our Macs served us well, in those early, dark years Macintosh users were effectively excommunicated by the computer establishment.

Synonyms

• disfellowship
• takfir

Derived terms

• excommunicative
• unexcommunicated

Related terms

• excommunication

Translations

to officially exclude someone from membership of a church or religious community

• Arabic: حَرَمَ m (ḥarama)
• Armenian: բանադրել (hy) (banadrel)
• Bulgarian: отлъчвам от църквата (otlǎčvam ot cǎrkvata)
• Catalan: excomunicar (ca)
• Danish: ekskommunikere
• Esperanto: ekskomuniki
• French: excommunier (fr)

  Old French: escumengier

• German: exkommunizieren (de)
• Greek: αφορίζω (el) (aforízo)
• Hungarian: kiközösít (hu)
• Italian: scomunicare (it)
• Japanese: 破門 (ja) (はもん,hamon)
• Latin: excommunicare
• Macedonian: изопшти (izopšti), екскомуницира (ekskomunicira)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: ekskommunisere, lyse i bann, bannlyse, utelukke fra den katolske kirke

  Nynorsk: ekskommunisere, lyse i bann, bannlyse, bannlysa, stengje ute frå den katolske kyrkja

• Old English: āmǣnsumian
• Polish: ekskomunikować (pl) impf or pf, potępiać (pl) impf, potępić (pl) pf, wyklinać impf, wykląć (pl) pf
• Portuguese: excomungar (pt)
• Russian: изгоня́ть (ru) impf (izgonjátʹ), изгна́ть (ru) pf (izgnátʹ), выгоня́ть (ru) impf (vygonjátʹ), вы́гнать (ru) pf (výgnatʹ), (e.g. from church) отлуча́ть (ru) impf (otlučátʹ), отлучи́ть (ru) pf (otlučítʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Latin: ekskomunicírati (sh), izòpćiti

• Spanish: excomulgar (es)
• Thai: บัพพาชนียกรรม (bàp-paa-chá-nii-yá-gam)
• Welsh: esgymuno, diaelodi

to exclude from any other group; to banish — see also banish

• French: bannir (fr)
• German: bannen (de), verbannen (de)
• Hungarian: kiközösít (hu)
• Thai: บัพพาชนียกรรม (bàp-paa-chá-nii-yá-gam)

Etymology 2

From Ecclesiastical Latin, Late Latin excommunicātus, perfect passive participle of excommunicō (“put out of the community”). See -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more. Displaced native Old English āmǣnsumian.

Adjective

excommunicate (not comparable)

1. (archaic) Excommunicated.
   • 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, John ix:[22], folio cxxxiiij, verso:

     […] the iewes had conſpyred allredy that yff eny man did confeſſe that he was Chriſt / he ſhulde be excommunicat out of the Sinagoge.

   • c. 1596 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Iohn”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 9, column 2:

     Thou ſhalt ſtand curſt, and excommunicate […]

Etymology 3

From a substantivation of the above adjective. See -ate (noun-forming suffix) for more.

Noun

excommunicate (plural excommunicates)

1. An excommunicated person.

   Synonyms: excommunicant, excommunicatee