Dictionary

communion en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /kəˈmjuːnjən/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English comunioun, communyoun, from Anglo-Norman comunion or Middle French communion, from Ecclesiastical Latin commūniō (“communion”), from Latin commūnis.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A joining together of minds or spirits; a mental connection.
   • My vices are the children of a forced solitude that I abhor; and my virtues will necessarily arise when I live in communion with an equal. 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter IX, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. […], volume II, London: […] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 150:
   • It would be uplifting to think that the ziggurat was the first expression of Near Eastern civilization, for then one could speak about humanity's fascination with the heavens, of the human quest for communion with the infinite. 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 159:
2. (countable, uncountable) Holy Communion; the Eucharist.
   • first communion
   • To receive Communion, open the mouth, letting the tongue touch the inner side of the lip, and having received the Sacred Particle on the tongue, swallow it as soon as you can, to avoid all irreverent touching of the Sacred Host with the teeth or lips. 1882, “Communion”, in The Daily Prayer-Book […] , London: Burns & Oates:
   • One day, when at the height of her illness, she had thought herself dying, and had asked for the communion; […]. 1886, Gustave Flaubert, chapter XIV, in Eleanor Marx-Aveling, transl., Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners […], London: Vizetelly & Co., […], →OCLC, part II, page 234:
   • to take/receive communion
   • And I have nothing at all left of piety. I haven't confessed or prayed or taken communion in years. 1968, Ursule Molinaro, transl., Narcissus and Goldmund, translation of Narziß und Goldmund by Herman Hesse:
3. (countable, uncountable) Ecclesiastical interrecognition of belonging to the true Church. ▸ A form of ecclesiastical unity between the Roman Catholic Church and another, so that the latter is considered part of the former.
4. (countable, uncountable) Ecclesiastical interrecognition of belonging to the true Church. ▸ A denomination; a high-level organised subgrouping of Christianity (now especially in Anglican Communion)

Forms

Deriveds

communional · antecommunion · communion of saints · communionism · phatic communion · communion hall · World Communion Sunday · communionable · open communion · closed communion · close communion · Anglican Communion · still got one's communion money · communion cloth · communion ecclesiology · intercommunion · communionist · communion wafer · Holy Communion · spiritual communion · communionlike · precommunion · First Communion · noncommunion

Relateds

community · communicate · Communion · communal · common

Synonyms

sacrament · communing

Translations (29)

fi kanssakäyminen (a joining together of minds or spirits) · nn nattverd (a joining together of minds or spirits) · sl občestvo (a joining together of minds or spirits) · es comunión (a joining together of minds or spirits) · gl comuñón (a joining together of minds or spirits) · nb kommunion (a joining together of minds or spirits) · eo komunio (a joining together of minds or spirits) · pt comunhão (a joining together of minds or spirits) · es comunión (ecclesiastical interrecognition) · fr communion (a joining together of minds or spirits) · xag 𐕚𐔰𐔼𐕅𐕒𐕡 (a joining together of minds or spirits) · enm comunioun (ecclesiastical interrecognition) · pl komunia (a joining together of minds or spirits) · de Kommunion (a joining together of minds or spirits) · sv nattvard (a joining together of minds or spirits) · eo komuneco (a joining together of minds or spirits) · nl communie (a joining together of minds or spirits) · da nadver (a joining together of minds or spirits) · da kommunion (a joining together of minds or spirits) · vo komuin (a joining together of minds or spirits) · nn kommunion (a joining together of minds or spirits) · fi ajatustenvaihto (a joining together of minds or spirits) · grc συνουσίᾱ (a joining together of minds or spirits) · grc κοινωνίᾱ (a joining together of minds or spirits) · nb nattverd (a joining together of minds or spirits) · nrf communion (a joining together of minds or spirits) · it comunione (a joining together of minds or spirits) · sv kommunion (a joining together of minds or spirits) · bg единение (a joining together of minds or spirits)