Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1800-1900
Language: Greek
Origin: ostrakizein 'to send away by voting with broken pieces of pot', from ostrakon 'broken piece of pot'

ostracize

 verb
     
os‧tra‧cize also ostracise British English [transitive]
if a group of people ostracize someone, they refuse to accept them as a member of the group:
She was afraid that if she spoke up her colleagues would ostracize her.
He was ostracized by the other students.
—ostracism noun [uncountable]
He suffered years of ostracism.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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