Ostraciser

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An individual who purposefully forces others out of social groups or communities
2. Someone who deliberately expels or isolates individuals from a community or social circle
3. An individual that intentionally bars others from participation in a group or society

Etymology: "Ostraciser" is the British spelling of "ostracizer," a person who ostracizes others. Its story runs back through the verb it is built on, "ostracize," which was formed in English from the Greek "ostrakon," meaning a potsherd or piece of broken pottery. In ancient Athens, citizens voted to banish a politician for ten years by scratching his name on a fragment of pottery, a procedure called ostracism. The English verb took its meaning from that practice, so to ostracize someone is to shut them out of a community, with the pottery's original role in the banishment preserved in the word. The ending is the simple agent suffix "-er," which English attaches to verbs to name the person who performs the action, so "ostracizer" is literally one who ostracizes. The spelling "ostraciser" follows the British convention of "-ise" for the verb ending, while the American form keeps the "z." Both spellings name the same person, the one who casts another out of a group.

Synonyms: outcast