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Definition of anathema noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

anathema

noun
 
/əˈnæθəmə/
 
/əˈnæθəmə/
[uncountable, countable, usually singular] (formal)
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  1. a thing or an idea that you hate because it is the opposite of what you believe
    • Racial prejudice is (an) anathema to me.
    Topics Preferences and decisionsc2
    Word Originearly 16th cent.: from ecclesiastical Latin, ‘excommunicated person, excommunication’, from Greek anathema ‘thing dedicated’, (later) ‘thing devoted to evil, accursed thing’, from anatithenai ‘to set up’.
See anathema in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
previously
adverb
 
 
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