Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
exorcise or ex·or·cize [ek-sawr-sahyz, -ser-] EXAMPLES|WORD ORIGIN verb (used with object), ex·or·cised, ex·or·cis·ing. to seek to expel (an evil spirit) by adjuration or religious or solemn ceremonies: to exorcise a demon. to free (a person, place, etc.) of evil spirits or malignant influences. Liberaldictionary.com
Origin of exorcise 1350–1400; Middle English Late Latin exorcizāre Greek exorkízein, equivalent to ex- ex-3 + (h)orkízein to cause (someone) to swear an oathRelated formsex·or·cise·ment, nounex·or·cis·er, nounun·ex·or·cised, adjectiveCan be confusedexercise exorcise (see synonym study at exercise) Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019 Related Words for exorcised purge, dismiss, purify, remove, expel Examples from the Web for exorcised Contemporary Examples of exorcised
Though it was exorcised and is now caged, it apparently still moves about and growls at visitors.
Beware: Connecticut’s Museum of the Occult May Kill You
Nina Strochlic
July 3, 2014
CEOs may not get too exorcised about a falling stock price or declining market share.
‘Abercrombie’ Lawsuit: Why CEOs Love Their Jets
Daniel Gross
October 19, 2012
But it seemed to have exorcised many of the demons haunting the lithe and fair actress.
Anne Heche’s Crazy New Movie, ‘That’s What She Said’
Lorenza Muñoz
October 19, 2012
Historical Examples of exorcised
They sent out of the city for a famous exorcist, who exorcised the spirit for a week.
Augustin Calmet
They were like haunting shapes; they could not be exorcised.
Joseph Conrad
Let him be once exorcised and the ills of humanity are gone.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice
Stephen Leacock
The ever-present fear that had haunted her had been exorcised.
Pelham Grenville Wodehouse
The words are repeated year after year, but the enemies refuse to be exorcised.
Short Studies on Great Subjects
James Anthony Froude
Word Origin and History for exorcised exorcise v.
c.1400, “to invoke spirits,” from Old French exorciser (14c.), from Late Latin exorcizare, from Greek exorkizein “banish an evil spirit; bind by oath” (see exorcism).
Sense of “calling up evil spirits to drive them out” became dominant 16c. A rare case where -ise trumps -ize on both sides of the Atlantic, perhaps by influence of exercise. Related: Exorcised; exorcising.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
