From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Anathema \A*nath"e*ma\, noun; pl. {Anathemas}. [L. anath[e^]ma, fr. Gr. ? anything devoted, esp. to evil, a curse; also L. anath[=e]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.''
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: a detested person; "he is an anathema to me" [syn: {bete noire}]
2: a formal ecclesiastical curse accompanied by excommunication
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
51 Moby Thesaurus words for "anathema": abhorrence, abomination, antipathy, arraignment, aversion, ban, bete noire, blame, blasphemy, bugbear, castigation, censure, commination, condemnation, curse, damnation, decrial, denouncement, denunciation, detestation, evil eye, excommunication, excoriation, execration, flaying, fulmination, fustigation, hate, hex, impeachment, imprecation, indictment, leper, malediction, malison, malocchio, outcast, pariah, peeve, pet peeve, phobia, pillorying, proscription, reprehension, reprobation, reproof, skinning alive, stricture, thundering, untouchable, whammy
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary [easton]:
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."
From Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary (late 1800's) [hitchcock]:
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