ban

¹

[ban]

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.

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

[ban]

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.

ban

³

[ban, bahn]

noun

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

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

ban

⁴

[bahn]

noun

plural

bani 

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

ban

¹

/ 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

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

/ bæn /

noun

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

ban

³

/ bæn /

noun

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

Other Word Forms

• bannable adjective
• unbanned adjective

Word History and Origins

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; 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”; ban ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of ban¹

Old English bannan to proclaim; compare Old Norse banna to forbid, Old High German bannan to command

Origin of ban²

C13: from Old French ban , of Germanic origin; related to Old High German ban command, Old Norse bann _ban ¹

Origin of ban³

from Romanian, from Serbo-Croat bān lord

Example Sentences

In their first regime, the Taliban banned television, music and cinema, barred girls from school, forced women to wear the all-covering burka and men to grow beards.

Read more on BBC

The ministry also expanded the list of export-restricted rare earths, and banned their export for use by foreign militaries.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But in 2021, a low-level National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration bureaucrat banned anyone from swimming within 50 yards of Hawaiian spinner dolphins.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

As an offshore, unregulated marketplace that is officially off-limits to Americans, it isn’t subject to the laws that ban insider trading in the U.S. stock market.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

From bathroom bans to restrictions on health care and sports participation, conservative lawmakers across the country are targeting the rights and freedoms of trans Americans.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

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

When To Use

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.