Condemnation

How to spell condemnation

12 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce condemnation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does condemnation mean?

1. nounThe expression of very strong disapproval, or a formal sentence declaring guilt.

Condemnation in a sentence

• The report drew swift condemnation from every party in Parliament.

• His harsh condemnation of the policy surprised his usual allies.

Where does condemnation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb condemnare, meaning to sentence, blame, or pronounce guilty, which was built from the intensifying prefix con- and the verb damnare, meaning to inflict loss on, to fine, or to condemn. That damnare root, glossed roughly as 'to harm' or 'to declare liable', also gives us the everyday words damn and damage, all of them carrying the idea of being found at fault. English took condemnation in through Old French condemnacion in the 1300s, originally in legal settings where a person was formally sentenced. Over time the meaning broadened from courtroom judgement to any strong expression of disapproval. The hidden trap in the spelling is the silent n in the demn cluster, a fossil of that Latin damnare that survives in writing even though it is never pronounced.

How the word is built

• con- (wholly, intensive)
• demn (from Latin damnare: to inflict loss on, to condemn)
• -ation (noun-forming suffix)