excommunication

[eks-kuh-myoo-ni-key-shuhn]

noun

1. the act of excommunicating.

2. the state of being excommunicated.

3. the ecclesiastical sentence by which a person is excommunicated.

Word History and Origins

Origin of excommunication¹

1425–75; late Middle English < Late Latin excommūnicātiōn- (stem of excommūnicātiō ). See excommunicate, -ion

Example Sentences

A generation later, New York governor Mario Cuomo found himself in similarly hot water over his Catholicism, but from a different direction, when he faced the threat of excommunication for his support for abortion rights.

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He had a weakness for women not his wife, which had led to his excommunication from the Mormon Church.

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Stankorb explained that this implies excommunication, "a serious threat for women who have no job or independent income."

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Between the crazy Sprinter van rides, it has also broken new ground by exploring heavy subjects such as excommunication and religious trauma.

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He made waves in 2019 when he rescinded a pair of controversial rules banning baptisms for the children of gay parents and branding same-sex couples as heretics who could face excommunication.

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