EXCOMMUNICATION

excommunication, excision

(noun) the act of banishing a member of a church from the communion of believers and the privileges of the church; cutting a person off from a religious society

excommunication, exclusion, censure

(noun) the state of being excommunicated

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

excommunication (countable and uncountable, plural excommunications)

The act of excommunicating, disfellowshipping or ejecting; especially an ecclesiastical censure whereby the person against whom it is pronounced is, for the time, cast out of the communication of the church; exclusion from fellowship in things spiritual.

Synonyms

• disfellowshipment

Source: Wiktionary

Ex`com*mu`ni*ca"tion, n. Etym: [L. excommunicatio: cf. F. excommunication.]

Definition: The act of communicating or ejecting; esp., an ecclesiastical censure whereby the person against whom it is pronounced is, for the time, cast out of the communication of the church; exclusion from fellowship in things spiritual.

Note: excommunication is of two kinds, the lesser and the greater; the lesser excommunication is a separation or suspension from partaking of the Eucharist; the greater is an absolute execution of the offender from the church and all its rights and advantages, even from social intercourse with the faithful.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition