ban

¹ American  

[ban] / bæn /

verb (used with object)

banned, banning

1. to prohibit, forbid, or bar; interdict.

   to ban nuclear weapons;

   The dictator banned all newspapers and books that criticized his regime.

   Synonyms:

   taboo, proscribe, outlaw

   Antonyms:

   allow

2. Archaic.

   1. to pronounce an ecclesiastical curse upon.

   2. to curse; execrate.

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noun

1. the act of prohibiting by law; interdiction.

   Synonyms:

   taboo, interdict, proscription, prohibition

2. informal denunciation or prohibition, as by public opinion.

   society's ban on racial discrimination.

   Synonyms:

   taboo

3. Law.

   1. a proclamation.

   2. a public condemnation.

4. Ecclesiastical. a formal condemnation; excommunication.

5. a malediction; curse.

ban ² American  

[ban] / bæn /

noun

1. a public proclamation or edict.

2. Ecclesiastical. bans, banns.

3. (in the feudal system)

   1. the summoning of the sovereign's vassals for military service.

   2. the body of vassals summoned.

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ban ³ American  

[ban, bahn] / bæn, bɑn /

noun

1. (formerly) the governor of Croatia and Slavonia.

2. History/Historical. a provincial governor of the southern marches of Hungary.

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ban ⁴ American  

[bahn] / bɑn /

noun

plural

bani

1. a Romanian coin, one 100th of a leu.

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ban ¹ British  

/ bæn /

verb

1. (tr) to prohibit, esp officially, from action, display, entrance, sale, etc; forbid

   to ban a book

   to ban smoking

2. (tr) (formerly in South Africa) to place (a person suspected of illegal political activity) under a government order restricting his movement and his contact with other people

3. archaic to curse

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noun

1. an official prohibition or interdiction

2. law an official proclamation or public notice, esp of prohibition

3. a public proclamation or edict, esp of outlawry

4. archaic public censure or condemnation

5. archaic a curse; imprecation

ban ² British  

/ bæn /

noun

1. (in feudal England) the summoning of vassals to perform their military obligations

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ban ³ British  

/ bæn /

noun

1. a monetary unit of Romania and Moldova worth one hundredth of a leu

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Usage

What does ban mean? To ban is to forbid or prohibit something or someone, as in Fatima banned her children from using screens after 9 pm so they wouldn’ stay up all night playing video games. A ban is a law or rule that prohibits, or bans, something, as in The winter parking ban starts on December 1. A ban can also be an informal prohibition, such as by public opinion. Example: We had to ban the use of power tools for school projects after an unfortunate incident in shop class.

Other Word Forms

• bannable
  adjective
• unbanned
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of ban¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English bannen, Old English bannan “to summon, proclaim”; cognate with Old Norse banna to curse (probably influencing some senses of Middle English word), Old High German bannan; akin to Latin fārī “to speak,” Sanskrit bhanati “(he) speaks”

Origin of ban²

First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English, ban, ban(n)e, iban “a lord's proclamation or edict or summons,” Old English (ge)ban(n) “proclamation, ordinance, summons to arms” (derivative of bannan ); influenced in some senses by Old French ban (Anglicized as ban ), from the same Germanic source; see ban ¹

Origin of ban³

First recorded in 1605–15; from Serbo-Croatian bân, contracted from unattested bojan, bajan, said to be from a Turkic personal name, perhaps introduced into the Balkans by the Avars; compare Medieval Greek bo(e)ános “governor”

Origin of ban⁴

First recorded in 1960–65; from Romanian, of uncertain origin, perhaps from Serbo-Croatian bân “provincial governor”; see origin at ban ³

Explanation

The verb to ban means to forbid something from being or happening. The word can also be used as a noun. A school board might put a ban on all books that refer to Jefferson's mistress if they don't want anyone reading about her. If your parents are upset by how much time you spend online, they might ban computers in the house. But if you're smart, you can just use your phone or laptop at school. To ban something is to put a ban on it. Something with a ban on it is said to be banned. A ban can vary from your grandmother's ban on people wearing shoes in her house to a government's ban on printing certain stories in the newspaper.

Example Sentences

There is also a picture that was posted in April 2025, of him wearing what appears to be Meta's Ray Ban branded smart glasses and a hat traditionally found on the East African coast.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

"We are not looking just for new faces, we need a change in the culture -- society was tired of the old leaders," Ban added.

From Barron's • Mar. 4, 2026

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1996 allows activities to assure the safety and reliability of nuclear weapons, including experiments involving fissile material, as long as they don’t result in a nuclear-explosive yield.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 6, 2026

Project Orion was canceled after the Test Ban Treaty of 1963 prohibited nuclear weapons in space.

From Slate • Dec. 9, 2025

In an effort to address the rampant joblessness among black men labeled criminals, a growing number of advocates in recent years have launched Ban the Box campaigns.

From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander

Related Words

• bar
• exclude
• halt
• outlaw
• prevent
• prohibit
• proscribe
• restrict
• suppress