Word of the Day

: July 15, 2016

ostracize

verb AH-struh-syze

What It Means

1 : to exile by ostracism

2 : to exclude from a group by common consent

ostracize in Context

Athletes who cheat risk being ostracized by their peers and colleagues—in addition to suffering professional ruin.

"Hateful speech is employed to offend, marginalize and ostracize. It's replaced reasonable persuasion by those too lazy or ignorant to be thoughtful." — Tom Fulks, The San Luis Obispo (California) Tribune, 26 Dec. 2015

Did You Know?

In ancient Greece, prominent citizens whose power or influence threatened the stability of the state could be exiled by a practice called ostracism. Voters would elect to banish another citizen by writing that citizen's name down on a potsherd. Those receiving enough votes would then be subject to temporary exile from the state (usually for ten years). The English verb ostracize can mean "to exile by the ancient method of ostracism," but these days it usually refers to the general exclusion of one person from a group at the agreement of its members. Ostracism and ostracize derive from the Greek ostrakizein ("to banish by voting with potsherds"). Its ancestor, the Greek ostrakon ("shell" or "potsherd"), also helped to give English the word oyster.