anastomosis

[In Fr. & Port., anastomose; Gr. ἀναστόμωσις ( anastomosis ) = an opening, an outlet, a discharge.] [ANASTOMOSE.] 1. A uniting by the mouths of ve els distinct during the greater part of their course. (Used especially of the veins and arteries in the human or animal body, and of the veins in plants.) "One of the most simple of these anastomoses is found in the union of two arteries, originating from different trunks to form one."-Todd & Bowman: Physiol. Anat . , vol. ii., p. 323. 2. An interlacing, as of any branched system; a network. "The anastomosis of nerves thus formed differs from the more correctly named an as tom is is of blood-ve els; for in the latter case the canals of the anastomosing ve els communicate, and their contents are mingled; but in the former the nerve-tubes simply lie in juxtaposition, without any coalescence of their walls, or any admixture of the material contained within them."Todd & Bowman: Physiol. Anat ., vol. ii., p. 218. Named an at as is = extension, from the length of its crystals as compared with their breadth: they are, however, minute in size.) A mineral, called also Octahedrite (q. v.). ạn-ath-em-ạ, tăn-a-theme, * ăn'ath-ěm, s . [In Ger. an a them; Sp. & Ital anatema; Port. & Lat. anathema. In Greek there were two similar words, one ἀνάθημα ( anathēma ), and the other ἀνάθεμα ( anathema ). Both in Latin became anathema . In Greek the first sign i tied a votive offering set up in a temple to be preserved; the second, ultimately at least, a similar offering devoted to destruction. It is from the latter that the English word a no them a comes. Both are from ἀνατίθημι (an at i them i) = to lay upon, to set up as a votive gift; avá ( ana ) = up, and τίθημι ( tithemi ) = to put, to place.] I. In the New Testament: 1. The act of pronouncing "accursed," the solemn giving over of a person to God for utter destruction, corresponding to what is called in Hebrew חֵרֶם )chhermor חָרֶם (chhěrem), 1 Kings xx. 42. (See Trench's Synonyms of the New Testament, pp. 17-22.) 2. The object of such a curse. "If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema ."-1 Cor. xvi. 22. II. Church History: 1. Excommunication and denunciation by a pope, a council, or a bishop, of a real or reputed offender. This was called the jud i ciary anathema. Scott thus describes it: "At length, resolved in tone and brow, Sternly he question'd him-'And thou, Unhappy! what hast thou to plead, Why I denounce not on thy deed That awful doom which canons tell Shuts paradise and opens hell; Anathema of power so dread, It blends the living with the dead, Bids each good angel soar away, And every ill one claim his prey; Expels thee from the church's care, And deafens Heaven against thy prayer: Arms every hand against thy life, Bans all who aid thee in the strife- Nay, each whose succour, cold and scant, With meanest alms relieves thy want; Haunts thee while living, and, when dead, Dwells on thy yet devoted head, Rends Honour's scutcheon from thy hearse, Stills o'er thy bier the holy verse, And spurns thy corpse from hallow'd ground. Flung like vile carrion to the hound; Such is the dire and desperate doom For sacrilege, decreed by Rome. IMG:content-0496.png:[blocks in formation] "Your holy father of Rome hath smitten with his thunderbolt of excommunications and an a themes , at one time or other, most of the orthodox churches of the world."- Ibid . , p. 129. 2. The abjuratory anathema pronounced by a convert in renouncing his "errors" or "heresies."