anathema
NounOpen English WordNet
Noun (2)anathemas
- a detested person“he is an anathema to me”Synonyms: bete noireType of unpleasant person, disagreeable person
- a formal ecclesiastical curse accompanied by excommunicationType of execration, condemnation
What does it mean? Question 1 of today’s quiz
Webster's Dictionary (1913)
Origin: L. anathĕma, fr. Gr. … anything devoted, esp. to evil, a curse; also L. anathēma, 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.
[They] denounce anathemas against unbelievers.— Joseph Priestley
2. An imprecation; a curse; a malediction.
Finally she fled to London followed by the anathemas of both [families].— William M. Thackeray
3. Any person or thing anathematized, or cursed by ecclesiastical authority.
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.— John Locke
Anathema Maranatha (…) , an expression commonly considered as a highly intensified form of anathema. Maran atha is now considered as a separate sentence, meaning, “Our Lord cometh.”
Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54