excommunicate

/ˌɛkskəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/

//ˌɛkskəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"excommunicate" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“excommunicate” is uncommon English (frequency #77,660 among 2,246 “E” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#77,660
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To officially exclude someone from membership of a church or religious community.

Corpus desk

Index EN-excommunicate · excommunicate · English

excommunicate · rank #77,660 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #77,660
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH eyelet

Nearest frequency peer: eyelet (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “excommunicate”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “excommunicate” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for excommunicate
PropertyValue
Headwordexcommunicate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˌɛkskəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/
Letters13
Frequency rank#77,660
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “excommunicate” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).excommunicatefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “eyelet” (#77,661), “estimable” (#77,657), “Fabienne” (#77,663). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “excommunicate” is #77,660. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

excommunicate is uncommon English at frequency #77,660 among 2,246 “E” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˌɛkskəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for excommunicate in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ecclesiastical Latin excommunicātus, perfect passive participle of excommunicō (“excommunicate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). By surface analysis, ex- + communicate. The correct English form is excommunicate, spelled E-X-C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To officially exclude someone from membership of a church or religious community.
  2. 2
    To exclude from any other group; to banish.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how excommunicate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. “Perhaps it is because I have been excommunicated. It’s absurd, but I feel like the Jackdaw of Rheims.” ¶ She winced and bowed her head. Each time that he spoke flippantly of the Church he caused her pain.
  2. Samois includes celebate ^([sic]), heterosexual and bisexual women as well as lesbians, and I feel very strongly that this is the wisest choice. Our community is so fragile that we can't afford to fragment it by excommunicating non-lesbian women.

Etymology

From Ecclesiastical Latin excommunicātus, perfect passive participle of excommunicō (“excommunicate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). By surface analysis, ex- + communicate.

Synonyms

disfellowshiptakfir

This word in other languages

excomulgar(Español)excommunier(Français)exkommunizieren(Deutsch)excomungar(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "excommunicate"?
"excommunicate" is spelled E-X-C-O-M-M-U-N-I-C-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌɛkskəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/.
What does "excommunicate" mean?
As a verb, "excommunicate" means: To officially exclude someone from membership of a church or religious community.
How do you pronounce "excommunicate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "excommunicate" is /ˌɛkskəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "excommunicate"?
From Ecclesiastical Latin excommunicātus, perfect passive participle of excommunicō (“excommunicate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). By surface analysis, ex- + communicate. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "excommunicate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

algebraically#77,394prepositional#78,042psychodynamic#78,050Stirlingshire#77,236

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list