What does excommunicate mean?
Excommunicate is primarily a verb meaning to formally exclude a person from membership in a religious community — especially from the sacraments of a Christian church — by official ecclesiastical decree. The resulting exclusion may also be referred to by the noun form: an excommunicate is someone who has been cast out in this way. Historically, excommunication carried enormous social and political weight; in medieval Europe it could strip rulers of legitimacy, void marriages, and deny burial in consecrated ground. Today the word survives mainly in religious and historical writing, though it occasionally appears figuratively to describe severe social ostracism. It derives from Latin excommunicare, built on communicare ('to make common, to share'), the same root that gives us communicate and communion — making excommunicate etymologically the precise opposite of being in communion. Its tone is formal and grave, suited to contexts of institutional authority and solemn sanction.
To officially exclude someone from the sacraments and fellowship of a Christian church as a disciplinary measure.
"The council voted to excommunicate the bishop who had defied its authority."
A person who has been formally excluded from a Christian church.
"As an excommunicate, he was barred from receiving the sacraments until his reconciliation with the Church."
Also functions adjectivally in phrases such as 'an excommunicate priest.'
Used when referring to multiple individuals who have been formally excluded from a church.
"The decree condemned the excommunicates who had joined the schismatic sect."
The word literally means 'put out of communion' — for centuries it was the most feared penalty in Europe, capable of ending kings' reigns without a single soldier.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of excommunicate
Excommunicate comes from Late Latin excommunicare, meaning 'to put out of communion,' formed from ex- ('out of') and communicare ('to make common, share'), itself derived from communis ('common'). The word entered English via Old French and ecclesiastical Latin in the late Middle English period, around the 14th–15th centuries. It shares its root with communicate, communion, common, and community, all tracing back to the same Latin source.
Related word forms
How excommunicate is actually used
Formal and largely ecclesiastical in register; used almost exclusively in religious or historical contexts. As a verb, stress falls on the final syllable (-cate); as noun or adjective, on the preceding one. Figurative use outside religion is rare but possible.
Easily confused with excommunicate
Communicate means to convey information or share; excommunicate means the opposite in origin and effect — to cut someone off from communion or fellowship.