Word of the Day

: October 18, 2009

ostracize

verb AHS-truh-syze

What It Means

: to exclude from a group by common consent

ostracize in Context

Ostracized by her former friends for spreading false rumors and gossip, Christina now walks to school alone.

Did You Know?

In ancient Greece, prominent citizens whose power or influence threatened the stability of the state could be exiled by a practice called ostracism. Voters would elect to banish another citizen by writing that citizen's name down on a potsherd (a fragment of earthenware or tile). Those receiving enough votes would then be subject to temporary exile from the state (usually for ten years). The English verb "ostracize" can mean "to exile by the ancient method of ostracism," but these days it usually refers to the general exclusion of one person from a group at the agreement of its members. "Ostracism" and "ostracize" derive from the Greek "ostrakizein" ("to banish by voting with potsherds"). Its ancestor, the Greek "ostrakon" ("shell" or "potsherd"), also helped to give English the word "oyster."