ostracism Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun the state of being banished or ostracized (excluded from society by general consent)
    Coventry; banishment.
    • the association should get rid of its elderly members--not by euthanasia, of course, but by Coventry
  2. noun the act of excluding someone from society by general consent

WordNet

Os"tra*cism noun
Etymology
Gr. , fr. to ostracize. See Ostracize.
Definitions
  1. (Gr. Antiq.) Banishment by popular vote, -- a means adopted at Athens to rid the city of a person whose talent and influence gave umbrage.
  2. Banishment; exclusion; as, social ostracism.
    Public envy is as an ostracism, that eclipseth men when they grow too great. Bacon.
    Sentenced to a perpetual ostracism from the . . . confidence, and honors, and emoluments of his country. A. Hamilton.

Webster 1913