⚡ A solemn threat 🙏 A church prayer

commination

9.9

A serious warning that God will punish people who do wrong

noun
/ˌkɒmɪˈneɪʃən/

Archaic

: cominación

The priest delivered a commination against those who broke their vows.

Examples

Reading the ancient text, we encountered a fierce commination directed at wrongdoers.
In medieval times, commination was often used to warn parishioners about sin.
During the commination, the church was silent.
The commination highlighted the need for repentance.
The pastor delivered a powerful commination during the service, warning the congregation of the consequences of ignoring their faith.
During Lent, the church includes a commination to remind everyone about the seriousness of sin and the need for repentance.
The bishop's commination emphasized the dire fate awaiting those who do not seek forgiveness for their sins.

Synonyms

imprecation

vscommination

Offensive

2 9.9

A spoken wish for bad things to happen to someone

is a solemn religious threat of divine punishment rather than a personal spoken curse

condemnation

vscommination

Offensive

1 9.6

A spoken wish that something bad will happen to someone

is a solemn declaration of divine punishment rather than an appeal to powers

Antonyms

blessing

79 1.8

A short prayer asking God or a higher power for help

How Threatening

curse

Literature

262 5.5

commination

Archaic

9.9

threat

∞ 1.9

admonition

17 7.4

warning

∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

commination singular

comminations plural

Morphology

commination = comminate (opaque) = comminate + ion

A learned Latin-derived formation: the noun is formed from the rare verb 'comminate' and the meaning is a specialized religious/threat sense not transparently inferable by average learners.

Etymology

Commination comes from the Latin verb comminari, where minari means 'to threaten'. It shares a root with the English word menace, so a commination is a solemn 'threat' or warning, often about punishment from God.