A·nath·e·ma n.; pl. Anathemas
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. --Priestley.
2. An imprecation; a curse; a malediction.
Finally she fled to London followed by the anathemas of both [families]. --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. --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.”
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