Definition of Interdict

(n.)
To lay under an interdict; to cut off from the enjoyment of religious privileges, as a city, a church, an individual.
  

(n.)
To forbid; to prohibit or debar; as, to interdict intercourse with foreign nations.
  

(n.)
An order of the court of session, having the like purpose and effect with a writ of injunction out of chancery in England and America.
  

(n.)
A prohibitory order or decree; a prohibition.
  

(n.)
A prohibition of the pope, by which the clergy or laymen are restrained from performing, or from attending, divine service, or from administering the offices or enjoying the privileges of the church.
  

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interdict
\in`ter*dict"\ (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. interdicted; p. pr. & vb. n. interdicting.] [oe. entrediten to forbid communion, l. interdicere, interdictum. see interdict, n.]
1. to forbid; to prohibit or debar; as, to interdict intercourse with foreign nations. charged not to touch the interdicted tree.
2. (eccl.) to lay under an interdict; to cut off from the enjoyment of religious privileges, as a city, a church, an individual. an archbishop may not only excommunicate and interdict his suffragans, but his vicar general may do the same.
interdict
\in"ter*dict`\ (?), n. [oe. entredit, enterdit, of. entredit, f. interdit, fr. l. interdictum, fr. interdicere to interpose, prohibit; inter between + dicere to say. see diction.] 1. a prohibitory order or decree; a prohibition. these are not fruits forbidden; no interdict defends the touching of these viands pure.
2. (r. c. ch.) a prohibition of the pope, by which the clergy or laymen are restrained from performing, or from attending, divine service, or from administering the offices or enjoying the privileges of the church.
3. (scots law) an order of the court of session, having the like purpose and effect with a writ of injunction out of chancery in england and america.
interdict
n : an ecclesiastical censure by the roman catholic church withdrawing certain sacraments and christian burial from a person or all persons in a particular district v
1. destroy by firepower, such as an enemy's line of communication
2. command against; "i forbid you to call me late at night" [syn: forbid, prohibit, proscribe, veto, disallow]
[ant: permit, permit]

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Authoritative act of prohibition

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Noun
1. an ecclesiastical censure by the Roman Catholic Church withdrawing certain sacraments and Christian burial from a person or all persons in a particular district
(hypernym) censure, animadversion
2. a court order prohibiting a party from doing a certain activity
(synonym) interdiction
(hypernym) court order
(derivation) forbid, prohibit, proscribe, veto, disallow
(classification) law, jurisprudence

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Verb
1. destroy by firepower, such as an enemy's line of communication
(hypernym) destroy, destruct
2. command against; "I forbid you to call me late at night"; "Mother vetoed the trip to the chocolate store"
(synonym) forbid, prohibit, proscribe, veto, disallow
(hypernym) command, require, compel
(hyponym) ban
(derivation) interdiction

Religious censure, often used in the Middle Ages as a tool by the senior clergy to force a secular lord’s hand. Under the interdict, no religious services can be conducted, so no marriages, burials, or baptisms could be performed. Given the importance of religion to the people of the Middle Ages, the interdict was a powerful weapon, to a degree balancing the physical force available to the secular lords.

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