execration

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a curse or forceful expression of hatred and condemnation

   The crowd answered the tyrant's name with a roar of execration.

2. 2
   noun

   intense hatred, disgust, or abhorrence

   The corrupt official became an object of public execration.

3. 3
   noun

   a person or thing that is profoundly detested

   To the displaced villagers, the prison remained an execration long after it closed.

From Latin execratio, 'a cursing, an imprecation,' from execrari, 'curse or abhor.' The verb combines ex- (an intensifier here) with sacer, 'sacred, accursed.' A solemn declaration placing someone outside sacred protection developed into both an uttered curse and the intense detestation behind it.

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