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ανάθεμα
curse /aˈnaθema/
nounB2#2117 most common
Also: damn it (exclamation), anathema (formal excommunication)
Example sentences
Ανάθεμα!
Damn it!
Ανάθεμα, ξέχασα τα κλειδιά μου.
Damn it, I forgot my keys.
Ανάθεμά τον, πάλι έσπασε το ποτήρι.
Curse him, he broke the glass again.
Ανάθεμα την ώρα που αγόρασα αυτό το αυτοκίνητο.
Cursed be the hour I bought this car.
Ο ιερέας τον κήρυξε ανάθεμα για την προδοσία του.
The priest declared him anathema for his betrayal.
Τα αναθέματα της εκκλησίας δεν τον τρόμαζαν πια.
The church's curses no longer frightened him.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ανάθεμα | αναθέματα |
| Genitive | αναθέματος | αναθεμάτων |
| Accusative | ανάθεμα | αναθέματα |
| Vocative | ανάθεμα | αναθέματα |
Word family
αναθεματίζωto curse, to anathematize
αναθεματισμένοςcursed, damnedαναθεματισμόςexcommunication, act of cursing
ανάθημαvotive offering (a related but distinct word)
Etymology
Ανάθεμα comes from ανατίθημι, a compound of ανα- (up, back) and τίθημι (to place). It originally meant a thing set up or dedicated, such as a votive offering. In Hellenistic and Biblical Greek it took on the sense of something devoted to destruction or set apart under a curse, echoing the Hebrew idea of ḥerem. From there it grew into the Christian term for formal excommunication and, in everyday Modern Greek, a common exclamation of cursing.
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