anathema English · revision 2397

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /əˈnæθəmə/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|anathema|t=an excommunicated person; a curse]],^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995) [[der|grc|ἀνάθεμα|tr=anáthema|t=a thing devoted to evil, accursed]],^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) a variant of ''anáthēma'' “a thing devoted, set up as an offering”,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) from ''anatithénai'' “to set up, dedicate”,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995) [[af|grc|ἀνα-|τιθέναι|tr1=ana-|tr2=tithénai|t1=up|t2=to put, place]],^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Etymonline) [[der|ine-pro|*dhe-|t=to set, put]].^(Etymonline)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Anything accursed or consigned to damnation (1526).^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In classical Greek the word meant an offering set up in a temple; in church Greek and Latin it came to mean something devoted to evil, and then accursed or damned.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) It was later applied to persons and to the curse itself:^(Etymonline) the formal act of excommunication and consignment to damnation is attested from the 1610s.^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary) As anathemas were freely used as weapons in church controversy, the sense weakened to any curse or denunciation (a1619),^(OED 1989) and finally to anything intensely disliked.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The original Greek sense “a thing consecrated” was also borrowed separately (1581).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1526 – anything accursed or consigned to damnation.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1581 – a thing devoted or consecrated to divine use.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1610s – the formal act or formula of excommunication.^(Etymonline)^(Wiktionary)

+ * a1619 – a curse or imprecation in general.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Someone or something intensely disliked or shunned.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A formal ecclesiastical curse, usually involving excommunication.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A vehement denunciation; a curse.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Someone or something cursed by church authority.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[anathematic]]

+ * [[anathematize]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[thesis]]

+ * [[theme]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In the sense “something loathed” it is usually used as a predicate noun without an article, as in ''the idea was anathema to him''.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}