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Webster 1913 Edition

Excommunication

Exˊcom-muˊni-ca′tion

,
Noun.
[L.
excommunicatio
: cf. F.
excommunication
.]
The act of communicating or ejecting; esp., an ecclesiastical censure whereby the person against whom it is pronounced is, for the time, cast out of the communication of the church; exclusion from fellowship in things spiritual.
☞ excommunication is of two kinds, the lesser and the greater; the lesser excommunication is a separation or suspension from partaking of the Eucharist; the greater is an absolute execution of the offender from the church and all its rights and advantages, even from social intercourse with the faithful.

Webster 1828 Edition

Excommunication

EXCOMMUNICA'TION

,
Noun.
The act of ejecting from a church; expulsion from the communion of a church, and deprivation of its rights, privileges and advantages; an ecclesiastical penalty or punishment inflicted on offenders. Excommunication is an ecclesiastical interdict, of two kinds, the lesser and the greater; the lesser excommunication is a separation or suspension of the offender from partaking of the eucharist; the greater, is an absolute separation and exclusion of the offender from the church and all its rites and advantages.

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