| Part of Speech | Definition | |
| Noun Plural | 1. Plural inflection of the noun anathema.[Eve - graph theoretic] | |
| Noun Base (anathema) | 1. A detested person; "he is an anathema to me".[Wordnet]. 2. A formal ecclesiastical curse accompanied by excommunication.[Wordnet]. 3. A ban or curse pronounced with religious solemnity by ecclesiastical authority, and accompanied by excommunication. Hence: Denunciation of anything as accursed.[Websters]. 4. An imprecation; a curse; a malediction.[Websters]. 5. Any person or thing anathematized, or cursed by ecclesiastical authority.[Websters]. | |
Sources: compiled from various sources, (under license) copyright 2008. | Top | |
Date "ANATHEMAS" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1509. (references) |
Specialty Definition: anathema
| Domain | Definition | ||
| Bible | Anathema anything laid up or suspended; hence anything laid up in a temple or set apart as sacred. In this sense the form of the word is _anath (ee) ma_, once in plural used in the Greek New Testament, in Luke 21:5, where it is rendered "gifts." In the LXX.the form _anathema_ is generally used as the rendering of the Hebrew word _herem_, derived from a verb which means (1) to consecrate or devote; and (2) to exterminate. Any object so devoted to the Lord could not be redeemed (Num. 18:14; Lev. 27:28, 29); and hence the idea of exterminating connected with the word. The Hebrew verb (haram) is frequently used of the extermination of idolatrous nations. It had a wide range of application. The _anathema_ or _herem_ was a person or thing irrevocably devoted to God (Lev. 27:21, 28); and "none devoted shall be ransomed. He shall surely be put to death" (27:29). The word therefore carried the idea of devoted to destruction (Num. 21:2, 3; Josh. 6:17); and hence generally it meant a thing accursed. In Deut. 7:26 an idol is called a _herem_ = _anathema_, a thing accursed. In the New Testament this word always implies execration. In some cases an individual denounces an anathema on himself unless certain conditions are fulfilled (Acts 23:12, 14, 21). "To call Jesus accursed" [anathema] (1 Cor. 12:3) is to pronounce him execrated or accursed. If any one preached another gospel, the apostle says, "let him be accursed" (Gal. 1:8, 9); i.e., let his conduct in so doing be accounted accursed. In Rom. 9:3, the expression "accursed" (anathema) from Christ, i.e., excluded from fellowship or alliance with Christ, has occasioned much difficulty. The apostle here does not speak of his wish as a possible thing. It is simply a vehement expression of feeling, showing how strong was his desire for the salvation of his people. The anathema in 1 Cor. 16:22 denotes simply that they who love not the Lord are rightly objects of loathing and execration to all holy beings; they are guilty of a crime that merits the severest condemnation; they are exposed to the just sentence of "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord." Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary. | ||
| Law | ANATHEMA, eccl. law. A punishment by which a person is separate from, the body of the church, and forbidden all intercourse with the faithful: it differs from excommunication, which simply forbids the person excommunicated, from going into the church and communicating with the faithful. Gal. 1. 8, 9. (references) | ||
| Literature | 1: Horace: Odes (v. 13--16). 2: Votiva paries indicat uvida 3: Suspendisse potenti 4: Horace, having escaped the love-snares of Pyrrha, hangs up his votive tablet, as one who has escaped the dangers of the sea. 5: "Me tabula sacer 6: Anathema A denunciation or curse. The word is Greek, and means to place, or set up, in allusion to the mythological custom of hanging in the temple of a patron god something devoted to him. Thus Gordius hung up his yoke and beam; the shipwrecked hung up their wet clothes; workmen retired from business hung up their tools, etc. Hence anything set apart for destruction; and so, set apart from the Church as under a curse. 7: Vestimenta maris deo." Source: Brewer's Dictionary. | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
Common Expressions: anathema
| Expressions | Definition | ||
| Anathema (band) | Anathema is an British band from the city of Liverpool, which together with Paradise Lost and My Dying Bride helped developing the doom death genre. (references) | ||
| Anathema Maranatha | (see --1 Cor. xvi. 22), an expression commonly considered as a highly intensified form of anathema. Maran atha is now considered as a separate sentence, meaning, ``Our Lord cometh.''. Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | Top | ||
