ban1
- to prohibit, forbid, or bar; interdict: to ban nuclear weapons; The dictator banned all newspapers and books that criticized his regime.
- Archaic.
- to pronounce an ecclesiastical curse upon.
- to curse; execrate.
- the act of prohibiting by law; interdiction.
- informal denunciation or prohibition, as by public opinion: society's ban on racial discrimination.
- Law.
- a proclamation.
- a public condemnation.
- Ecclesiastical. a formal condemnation; excommunication.
- a malediction; curse.
Origin of ban1
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comAntonyms
ban2
- a public proclamation or edict.
- bans, Ecclesiastical. banns.
- (in the feudal system)
- the summoning of the sovereign's vassals for military service.
- the body of vassals summoned.
Origin of ban2
ban3
- (formerly) the governor of Croatia and Slavonia.
- History/Historical. a provincial governor of the southern marches of Hungary.
Origin of ban3
ban4
- a Romanian coin, the 100th part of a leu.
Origin of ban4
Related Words
embargorestrictionrefusalinjunctionprohibitionboycottcensorshipprohibitbarhaltpreventsuppressoutlawrestrictexcludeproscribeproscriptionstoppageinterdictionlimitationExamples from the Web for ban
Contemporary Examples
A ban on the ringing of church bells, lifted in 1941, was reimposed.
But in 1969, a longstanding practice was challenged—its ban on women.
The United Nations was prompted to impose a ban on selling mainframe computers or laptops to North Korea.
But after Rolling Stone's rape story debacle, how much momentum does the call to ban fraternities have left?
We spent 2014 asking whether or not we should ban fraternities.
Historical Examples
He has placed your city of Coimbra under a ban of excommunication.
The Historical Nights Entertainment, Second SeriesRafael Sabatini
How could he exist with the knowledge that he was under the ban of the gods?
The Cat of BubastesG. A. Henty
Helena de' Franchi gave the news of the ban to Giuseppe de' Franchi.
Dreamers of the GhettoI. Zangwill
Then, bleeding, he sat on the ground, and heard the ban solemnly removed.
Dreamers of the GhettoI. Zangwill
But the Rabbis shook their heads and laid the ban upon him and his disciples.
Dreamers of the GhettoI. Zangwill
ban1
- (tr) to prohibit, esp officially, from action, display, entrance, sale, etc; forbidto ban a book; to ban smoking
- (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
- archaic to curse
- an official prohibition or interdiction
- law an official proclamation or public notice, esp of prohibition
- a public proclamation or edict, esp of outlawry
- archaic public censure or condemnation
- archaic a curse; imprecation
Word Origin
ban2
- (in feudal England) the summoning of vassals to perform their military obligations
Word Origin
ban3
- a monetary unit of Romania and Moldova worth one hundredth of a leu
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for ban
v.
Old English bannan "to summon, command, proclaim," from Proto-Germanic *bannan "proclaim, command, forbid" (cf. Old High German bannan "to command or forbid under threat of punishment," German bannen "banish, expel, curse"), originally "to speak publicly," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak" (cf. Old Irish bann "law," Armenian ban "word;" see fame (n.)).
Main modern sense of "to prohibit" (late 14c.) is from Old Norse cognate banna "to curse, prohibit," and probably in part from Old French ban, which meant "outlawry, banishment," among other things (see banal) and was a borrowing from Germanic. The sense evolution in Germanic was from "speak" to "proclaim a threat" to (in Norse, German, etc.) "curse."
The Germanic root, borrowed in Latin and French, has been productive, e.g. banish, bandit, contraband, etc. Related: Banned; banning. Banned in Boston dates from 1920s, in allusion to the excessive zeal and power of that city's Watch and Ward Society.
n.2
"governor of Croatia," from Serbo-Croatian ban "lord, master, ruler," from Persian ban "prince, lord, chief, governor," related to Sanskrit pati "guards, protects." Hence banat "district governed by a ban," with Latinate suffix -atus. The Persian word got into Slavic perhaps via the Avars.
n.1
"edict of prohibition," c.1300, "proclamation or edict of an overlord," from Old English (ge)bann "proclamation, summons, command" and Old French ban, both from Germanic; see ban (v.).