[anath.e.ma] n [LL anathemat-, anathema, fr. Gk, thing devoted to evil, curse, fr. anatithenai to set up, dedicate, fr. ana- + tithenai to place, set--more at do] (1526) 1 a: one that is cursed by ecclesiastical authority b: someone or something intensely disliked or loathed--usu. used as a predicate nominative "this notion was ~ to most of his countrymen --S. J. Gould"
2. a: a ban or curse solemnly pronounced by ecclesiastical authority and accompanied by excommunication b: the denunciation of something as accursed c: a vigorous denunciation: curse