interdict. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

interdict

SYLLABICATION:	in·ter·dict
PRONUNCIATION:	ntr-dkt
TRANSITIVE VERB:	Inflected forms: in·ter·dict·ed, in·ter·dict·ing, in·ter·dicts 1. To prohibit or place under an ecclesiastical or legal sanction. 2. To forbid or debar, especially authoritatively. See synonyms at forbid. 3a. To cut or destroy (a line of communication) by firepower so as to halt an enemy's advance. b. To confront and halt the activities, advance, or entry of: “the role of the FBI in interdicting spies attempting to pass US secrets to the Soviet Union” (Christian Science Monitor).
NOUN:	(ntr-dkt)1. Law A prohibition by court order. 2. Roman Catholic Church An ecclesiastical censure that excludes a person or district from participation in most sacraments and from Christian burial.
ETYMOLOGY:	Alteration of Middle English enterditen, to place under a church ban, from Old French entredit, past participle of entredire, to forbid, from Latin interdcere, interdict- : inter-, inter- + dcere, to say; see deik- in Appendix I.
OTHER FORMS:	inter·diction —NOUN inter·dictive, inter·dicto·ry (-dkt-r) —ADJECTIVE inter·dictive·ly —ADVERB inter·dictor —NOUN


The American Heritage^® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.