Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
ostracism
1.
(Gr. Antiq.)
Banishment by popular vote, – a means adopted at Athens to rid the city of a person whose talent and influence gave umbrage.
2.
Banishment; exclusion;
as, social
. ostracism
Public envy is as an
ostracism
, that eclipseth men when they grow too great. Bacon.
Sentenced to a perpetual
ostracism
from the . . . confidence, and honors, and emoluments of his country. A. Hamilton.
Webster 1828 Edition
Ostracism
OSTRACISM
,Noun.
1.
In Grecian antiquity, banishment by the people of Athens, of a person whose merit and influence gave umbrage to them. It takes this name from the shell on which the name or the note of acquittal or condemnation was written. It is however most probable that this shell was a piece of baked earth, rendered by the Latins testa.2.
Banishment; expulsion; separation.Sentenced to a perpetual ostracism from the esteem and confidence, and honors and emoluments of his country.