Anathemas

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
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              [They] denounce anathemas against unbelievers.
                                                    --Priestley.
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     2. An imprecation; a curse; a malediction.
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              Finally she fled to London followed by the anathemas
              of both [families].                   --Thackeray.
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     3. Any person or thing anathematized, or cursed by
        ecclesiastical authority.
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              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.
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     {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] Anathematic