Definition of excommunication
1 : an ecclesiastical censure depriving a person of the rights of church membership
2 : exclusion from fellowship in a group or community
Explore Merriam-Webster
Recent Examples of excommunication from the Web
-
After his excommunication at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Trump fell off the mainstream political radar, save for his periodic appearances on Fox News.
-
In Heretics, Spinoza also served as the paradigmatic recipient of excommunication, an example of the terrible fate of those who run afoul of dogma.
-
The first such act of ideological excommunication came in the pages of National Review in 1957, two years after Buckley founded the magazine.
-
In his final act of excommunication, Buckley took a stand against the paleoconservative Pat Buchanan in 1991 for expressing opposition to the Persian Gulf war in terms that were both incendiary and undeniably anti-Semitic.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'excommunication.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
First Known Use of excommunication
15th century
Learn More about excommunication
-
See words that rhyme with excommunication Spanish Central: Translation of excommunication Nglish: Translation of excommunication for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of excommunication for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about excommunication
Seen and Heard
What made you want to look up excommunication? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Writing? Check your grammar now!