excommunication (form of ecclesiastical censure by which a person is excluded from the communion of believers
1excommunication — /eks keuh myooh ni kay sheuhn/, n. 1. the act of excommunicating. 2. the state of being excommunicated. 3. the ecclesiastical sentence by which a person is excommunicated. [1425 75; late ME < LL excommunication (s. of excommunicatio). See… …
2Excommunication — A depiction of Pope Gregory IX excommunicating. Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious …
3religion — religionless, adj. /ri lij euhn/, n. 1. a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and… …
