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commination

[kom-uh-ney-shuh n]
See more synonyms for commination on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a threat of punishment or vengeance.
  2. a denunciation.
  3. (in the Church of England) a penitential office read on Ash Wednesday in which God's anger and judgments are proclaimed against sinners.
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Origin of commination

1400–50; late Middle English (< Anglo-French) < Latin comminātiōn- (stem of comminātīo), equivalent to commināt(us), past participle of comminārī to threaten (com- com- + minārī to threaten) + -iōn- -ion
Related formscom·mi·na·tor, nouncom·min·a·to·ry [kuh-min-uh-tawr-ee, -tohr-ee, kom-uh-nuh-] /kəˈmɪn əˌtɔr i, -ˌtoʊr i, ˈkɒm ə nə-/, com·mi·na·tive, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for commination

Historical Examples

  • A papal excommunication is a billet-doux compared to the Commination of Jugana.

    The Lock And Key Library

    Various

  • Then follows a commination at the end, which is not unusual in such cases.

  • Then Oliver had a try; but in a minute he, too, was reciting the commination service.

    The Log of a Sea-Waif

    Frank T. Bullen

  • But I find no such prayer and wish in any word of the Commination Service.

    Town and Country Sermons

    Charles Kingsley

  • And that we can only answer by the context of the Commination Service.

    Town and Country Sermons

    Charles Kingsley

British Dictionary definitions for commination

commination

noun
  1. the act or an instance of threatening punishment or vengeance
  2. Church of England a recital of prayers, including a list of God's judgments against sinners, in the office for Ash Wednesday
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Derived Formscomminatory (ˈkɒmɪnətərɪ, -trɪ), adjective

Word Origin

C15: from Latin comminātiō, from comminārī to menace, from com- (intensive) + minārī to threaten
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012