A*nath"e*ma (?), n.; pl.
Anathemas (?). [L. anath?ma, fr. Gr. ?
anything devoted, esp. to evil, a curse; also L. anath?ma, fr. Gr.
? a votive offering; all fr. ? to set up as a votive gift, dedicate;
? up + ? to set. See Thesis.] 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 (?) (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."