interdict

[ noun in-ter-dikt; verb in-ter-dikt ]

See synonyms for: interdict interdicted on Thesaurus.com

noun

Civil Law. any prohibitory act or decree of a court or an administrative officer.
Roman Catholic Church. a punishment by which the faithful, remaining in communion with the church, are forbidden certain sacraments and prohibited from participation in certain sacred acts.

Roman Law. a general or special order of the Roman praetor forbidding or commanding an act, especially in cases involving disputed possession.

verb (used with object)

to forbid; prohibit.
Ecclesiastical. to cut off authoritatively from certain ecclesiastical functions and privileges.

to impede by steady bombardment: Constant air attacks interdicted the enemy's advance.

Origin of interdict

First recorded in 1250–1300; (noun) from Latin interdictum “prohibition,” noun use of neuter of interdictus, past participle of interdīcere “to forbid,” equivalent to inter- “between, among, together” + -dic- (variant stem of dīcere “to speak”) + -tus past participle suffix; replacing Middle English enterdit, from Old French, from Latin, as above; (verb) from Latin interdictus; replacing Middle English enterditen, from Old French entredire (past participle entredit ), from Latin, as above; see inter-

Other words from interdict

in·ter·dic·tor, noun
un·in·ter·dict·ed, adjective

Words Nearby interdict

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use interdict in a sentence

Foreign security sector support can and should include efforts to interdict poachers.
The Curse of CAR: Warlords, Blood Diamonds, and Dead Elephants | Christopher Day | May 25, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
Excommunications were again hurled at Bruce and his bishops, and Scotland was laid under ecclesiastical interdict.
King Robert the Bruce | A. F. Murison
The interdict included you with Mordred; it is not to be removed while you remain alive.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Complete | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
Mordred attacked; the Bishop of Canterbury dropped down on him with the interdict.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Complete | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
We imagined we had educated it out of them; they thought so, too; the interdict woke them up like a thunderclap!
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Complete | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)

Is reason so largely developed in the great mass of men that the priests should interdict its use as dangerous?
Letters To Eugenia | Paul Henri Thiry Holbach

British Dictionary definitions for interdict

interdict

noun(ˈɪntəˌdɪkt, -ˌdaɪt)

RC Church the exclusion of a person or all persons in a particular place from certain sacraments and other benefits, although not from communion
civil law any order made by a court or official prohibiting an act

Scots law an order having the effect of an injunction
Roman history
- an order of a praetor commanding or forbidding an act
- the procedure by which this order was sought

verb(ˌɪntəˈdɪkt, -ˈdaɪt) (tr)

to place under legal or ecclesiastical sanction; prohibit; forbid
military to destroy (an enemy's lines of communication) by firepower

Origin of interdict

C13: from Latin interdictum prohibition, from interdīcere to forbid, from inter- + dīcere to say

Derived forms of interdict

interdictive or interdictory, adjective
interdictively, adverb
interdictor, noun

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

Browse