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.
denounce anathemas against unbelievers.
Priestley.
2. An imprecation; a curse; a malediction.
Finally she fled to London followed by the anathemas of both.
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.”