What does excommunication mean?
Excommunication is the formal exclusion of a person from a religious community — most commonly a Christian church — barring them from its sacraments, rites, and full fellowship. Rooted in canon law, it has historically been among the severest penalties a church could impose, cutting the offender off from what was believed to be the path to salvation and carrying immense social consequences in societies where church and state were intertwined. In Roman Catholic practice, excommunication may be imposed by decree or incurred automatically upon committing certain grave offenses, and it can be lifted through repentance and reconciliation. Beyond religion, the term is used figuratively for any official shunning or expulsion from a group, as when a politician is said to face excommunication from their party. The word retains a formal, weighty tone, conveying not mere removal but deliberate, sanctioned ostracism.
nounThe formal act of excluding a person from membership in, and participation in the sacraments of, a Christian church; by extension, any official exclusion from a group or community.
- The formal ecclesiastical exclusion of a person from a Christian church and its sacraments.
- By extension, any official or ceremonial expulsion of a member from an organization or community.
"After refusing to recant his writings, the theologian faced excommunication from the church."
"The council voted for his excommunication after he publicly denied core doctrines."
"Her relentless criticism of the party leadership amounted to political excommunication."
Rarely pluralized; the singular is standard even when multiple acts are implied, though the plural appears in historical or legal writing about several decrees.
"The archive contains records of numerous excommunications issued during the schism."
In medieval Europe, excommunication could freeze a kingdom's churches, dissolve marriages, and even depose kings — it was one of the few punishments more feared than death.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of excommunication
Excommunication derives from the late Latin excommunicatio, formed from ex- ('out of') plus communicatio ('communion, sharing'), itself rooted in communis, meaning 'common' or 'shared'. To be excommunicated was literally to be put out of communion — cut off from the shared life of the church. The term entered English in the medieval period via ecclesiastical Latin, reflecting the church courts' central role in medieval life. It shares this root with everyday words such as communicate, communion, and community, all of which trace back to the same Latin idea of commonality.
Related word forms
How excommunication is actually used
The word carries strong religious connotations and belongs primarily to formal, ecclesiastical register; metaphorical uses (in politics or social groups) are understood but deliberately dramatic. In Catholic canon law, some offenses incur 'automatic' excommunication without a formal decree.
Easily confused with excommunication
Communication is the exchange of information, while excommunication is formal exclusion from a religious community — the shared Latin root communis ('common') makes the words look alike but their meanings are unrelated in modern use.