excommunication

American  

[eks-kuh-myoo-ni-key-shuhn] / ˌɛks kəˌmyu nɪˈkeɪ ʃən /

noun

1. the act of excommunicating.

2. the state of being excommunicated.

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

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Etymology

Origin of excommunication

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

Explanation

The noun excommunication is a formal way of describing what happens when someone gets kicked out of his or her church, for good. Excommunication is really a kind of banishment, a punishment that's handed out by a church when one of its members breaks some important church rule. The Latin root is excommunicare, meaning "put out of the community," which is just what happens when a person is excommunicated. The term is used most often in churches whose traditions include the concept of communion, as another Latin meaning of excommunication is "to expel from communion."

Example Sentences

From what you say, there is little room for middle ground between excommunication and open lines of communication.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 3, 2026

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

From Salon • Dec. 3, 2024

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

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 23, 2024

The excommunication was lifted two weeks after it was declared, raising the question of whether Francis had intervened on behalf of his fellow Jesuit.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 23, 2023

This was of course a wild underestimate, but a radical notion nonetheless, and Buffon found himself threatened with excommunication for expressing it.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson