- Anathema
- Anathema A*nath"e*ma, n.; pl. {Anathemas}. [L. anath[e^]ma,
fr. Gr. ? anything devoted, esp. to evil, a curse; also L.
anath[=e]ma, fr. Gr. ? a votive offering; all fr. ? to set up
as a votive gift, dedicate; ? up + ? to set. See {Thesis}.]
1. A ban or curse pronounced with religious solemnity by
ecclesiastical authority, and accompanied by
excommunication. Hence: Denunciation of anything as
accursed.
[1913 Webster]
[They] denounce anathemas against unbelievers. --Priestley. [1913 Webster]
2. An imprecation; a curse; a malediction. [1913 Webster]
Finally she fled to London followed by the anathemas of both [families]. --Thackeray. [1913 Webster]
3. Any person or thing anathematized, or cursed by ecclesiastical authority. [1913 Webster]
The Jewish nation were an anathema destined to destruction. St. Paul . . . says he could wish, to save them from it, to become an anathema, and be destroyed himself. --Locke. [1913 Webster]
{Anathema Maranatha}(see --1 Cor. xvi. 22), an expression commonly considered as a highly intensified form of anathema. Maran atha is now considered as a separate sentence, meaning, ``Our Lord cometh.'' [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.