excommunier

Forms

excommunier^[1] Old French escumunier (about 1120) and escomenier (late 12th century); the spelling excommunier dates from the 16th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin excommūnicō (“to put out of the communion of the Church”), with its ending adapted after communier.^[4][3][5][6] That verb is formed from Latin ex- + commūnicō (“to share, have in common”), the latter coming from commūnis (“common”).^[3][7]

The same Latin verb had given the popular Old French form escomengier (about 1170), with its derivative escomengement; in it ⟨-en-⟩ developed from ⟨-un-⟩ in an unstressed syllable.^[4][7][3] The learned form replaced it.^[4][1] Cognate with Occitan escomeniar, Catalan escomunicar, Spanish excomulgar and Italian scomunicare.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, as escumunier in the Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century), has the isolated sense “to profane, violate”: ne n'escumunierai le mien testament “nor will I profane my covenant”.^[4][3] The modern sense “to cast out of the Church” appears in Wace's Roman de Rou (1160–1174).^[4]

Semantic evolution

Apart from that first use, the verb has always meant to cut someone off from the communion of the Church, depriving a heretic or obstinate sinner of the sacraments; it is also used of exclusion from other religious communities.^[4][3] By analogy it meant “to exclude, reject” from the 13th century, first in Guillaume de Lorris's part of the Roman de la Rose (1225–1230), and it is still used in literary French of casting someone out of a party, group or one's life.^[4][3][2][9]

The past participle excommunié (13th century) also meant “sacrilegious” in the 16th century.^[3] The noun excommunication is first found as escomination (1160) and escomenacïon (1175), then escomunication (about 1195), borrowed from Church Latin excommunicatio.^[3][7]

Timeline

• c. 1120 – Escumunier “to profane” in the Oxford Psalter.^[3][5]
• 1160 – The noun appears as escomination.^[3]
• 1160–1174 – Wace uses the verb for casting out of the Church.^[4]
• c. 1170 – The popular form escomengier is recorded in Guillaume de Saint-Pair's Roman du Mont Saint-Michel.^[4]
• 1225–1230 – Guillaume de Lorris uses it in the wider sense “to exclude, reject”.^[4][3]
• 16th century – The spelling excommunier appears.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (religion) To cut someone off from a religious community; especially, in canon law, to exclude someone from the communion of the Church and the sacraments.^[4][9][10]
2. (literary) To reject or exclude someone or something from a group, organization or community.^[2][9][4]
3. (reflexive) S'excommunier: to cut oneself off from the communion of the faithful, or to excommunicate one another.^[8]

Word family

• excommunication
• excommunié

Related words

• communier
• communiquer
• commun
• Latin excommūnicō

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 3, 280a
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)