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ostracize

Pronunciation: /ˈɒstrəsʌɪz/
(also ostracise)
Translate ostracize | into French | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of ostracize

verb

  • 1 [with object] exclude from a society or group:she was declared a witch and ostracized by the villagers
  • 2(in ancient Greece) banish (an unpopular or overly powerful citizen) from a city for five or ten years by popular vote: Themistocles was indeed out of favour at Athens by the end of the 470s, when he was ostracized

Origin:

mid 17th century: from Greek ostrakizein, from ostrakon 'shell or potsherd' (on which names were written in voting to banish unpopular citizens)

ostracize in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of ostracize in the US English dictionary
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