excommunication

[US]/'ekskə,mju:ni'keiʃən/
[UK]/ˌɛkskəˌmjunɪˈkeʃən/
Frequency: Very High

Translation

n. expulsion from the church

Example Sentences

Excommunication was a common punishment in medieval times.

The threat of excommunication kept many members in line with the church's teachings.

The Pope issued an excommunication order against the heretical group.

Excommunication was seen as a severe form of punishment for serious offenses.

The excommunication of the priest caused a stir among the parishioners.

The act of excommunication was meant to bring the individual back into the fold of the church.

Excommunication was lifted after the member showed genuine remorse for his actions.

The threat of excommunication loomed over those who dared to challenge the church's authority.

The bishop announced the excommunication of the corrupt clergyman during Sunday service.

Real-world Examples

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

Source: A Brief History of Everything

The Pope precipitately thundered out excommunications against him, which so provoked King Henry, that he declared himself head of the Church, and drew after him all England into the unhappy change in which you see it.

Source: Princess Cleve

Therefore the reader must not suppose that Joan really put Robert de Baudricourt in her pocket in fifteen minutes, nor that her excommunication, recantation, relapse, and death at the stake were a matter of half an hour or so.

Source: Saint Joan of Arc

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