exorcis- +
(Greek > Latin > French: bind by oath; calling up or driving out of [evil] spirits)
2. To free from evil spirits or malign influences; such as, to clear the mind of a painful or oppressive feeling or memory.
3. Etymology: driving out (an evil spirit) by prayers, ceremonies, etc.; borrowed from Old French exorciser, from Late Latin exorcizare, from Greek exorkizein, "exorcise, to bind by oath" (ex-, "out of" + horkizein, "to cause" or "to make a person swear, to administer an oath to", from horkos, "oath"; also literally, limitation, binding).
As noted above, "oath" is to be found at the etymological heart of exorcise, a term going back to the Greek word exorkizein, meaning "to swear in, to take an oath by, to conjure", and "to exorcise".
The English word "exorcise" is first recorded in English possibly before the beginning of the 15th century; and in this use, exorcise means "to call up" or "to conjure spirits" rather than "to drive out spirits"; a different sense which was first recorded in 1546.
2. Freed from evil spirits or maligned influences.
2. Anyone who frees (a person, place, etc.) of evil spirits or malignant influences.
2. The act of casting out demons or evil spirits in a ritual designed to free individuals from evil influences "A formula used during an exorcism and in some churches, exorcism is practiced prior to baptism."
3. Something that a person can do that helps him or her to stop thinking about a bad experience or memory: "The psychiatrist helped his patient to get rid of the terrible depressions she had as a result of the death of her young daughter by a sex offender by using a form of exorcisms that included hypnotism and positive thinking exercises."
4. Etymology: from 1395, a calling up or driving out of spirits; borrowed from Late Latin exorcismus, from Greek exorkismos, from exorkizein, "bind by oath," from ex-, "out of" + horkizein, "cause to swear", from horkos, "oath".
2. A person who forces an evil spirit to leave someone, or a place, by using prayers or magic.
3. Someone who removes the bad effects of a frightening or upsetting event: "The exorcist said it would take a long time to exorcise the memory of the accident so the woman could live with less mental stress."
4. Etymology: from about 1384, in the Wycliffe Bible; borrowed from Late Latin exorcista, from Greek exorkistes, from exorkizein, "to exorcise".
2. Referring to a spell or formula used in exorcising.
Last Sunday, a preacher strived to exorcize and to drive out the devil and supernatural beings from all of his church attendees with prayers to God.
In the story Jeff was reading, the girls decided to exorcize the spooky apparitions from the garden by singing chants and walking in circles!