Anathema \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.''

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)