Etymograph

English

excommunicate

Excommunicate comes from Ecclesiastical Latin excommunicō, from Latin ex ‘out of, from’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁éǵʰ1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁éǵʰs1‘out’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*eks1reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEex1‘out of, from’
  5. Ecclesiastical Latinc. 200–1500excommunicō2
  6. Ecclesiastical Latinc. 200–1500excommunicātus2perfect passive participle of excommunicō
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1918excommunicate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin excommunico
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English excommunicate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1918, William Babington Maxwell, Indianapolis: ““Perhaps it is because I have been excommunicated. It’s…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁éǵʰWiktionary, Latin excommunicoreconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₁éǵʰsWiktionary, Latin excommunico‘out’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*eksWiktionary, Latin excommunicoreconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEexWiktionary, Latin excommunico‘out of, from’
  5. Ecclesiastical Latinc. 200–1500excommunicōWiktionary, English excommunicate
  6. Ecclesiastical Latinc. 200–1500excommunicātusWiktionary, English excommunicateperfect passive participle of excommunicō
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1918excommunicateWiktionary, English excommunicate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1918, William Babington Maxwell, Indianapolis: ““Perhaps it is because I have been excommunicated. It’s…”

Linked words

through Proto-Italic *eks

elevator, elevation, expulsion, elevate, 17 more

through Latin ex ‘out of, from’

ex, exchange, squash, extort, affray, extenuating, enunciation, 11 more

Today it means

verb To officially exclude someone from membership of a church or religious community.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “excommunicate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin excommunico. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₁éǵʰ / excommunicate

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