In ecclesiastical law . A spiritual punishment, consisting in withdrawing from a baptized person (whether belonging to the clergy or the laity) a privilege which the church gives him, or in wholly expelling him from the Christian communion. The principal varieties of censures are admonition, degradation , deprivation , excommunication , penance, sequestration , suspension. Phillim. Eec. Law, 1367. A custom observed in certain manors in Devon and Cornwall, where all persons above the age of sixteen years are cited to swear fealty to the lord, and to pay lid. per poll, and id. per annum.
Black’s Law Online Dictionary
