Definition of "excommunication" []

• The act of excommunicating. (noun)
• The state of being excommunicated. (noun)
• A formal ecclesiastical censure that deprives a person of the right to belong to a church. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "But, the Holy Father made clear today that the lifting of the excommunication is about one thing only: Church unity."
• "Under today's rules, however, excommunication is the new order of the day."
• "The handling of the Regensburg address and of the recent lifting of the excommunication from the SSPX bishops was unsatisfactory."