ban
1 Americanverb (used with object)
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bans,
present (3rd person singular)
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banned,
past participle, past
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banning
present participle
noun
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the act of prohibiting by law; interdiction.
- Synonyms:
- taboo, interdict, proscription, prohibition
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informal denunciation or prohibition, as by public opinion.
society's ban on racial discrimination.
- Synonyms:
- taboo
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Law.
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a proclamation.
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a public condemnation.
-
-
Ecclesiastical. a formal condemnation; excommunication.
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a malediction; curse.
noun
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a public proclamation or edict.
-
Ecclesiastical. bans, banns.
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(in the feudal system)
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the summoning of the sovereign's vassals for military service.
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the body of vassals summoned.
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noun
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(formerly) the governor of Croatia and Slavonia.
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History/Historical. a provincial governor of the southern marches of Hungary.
noun
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bani
plural
verb
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(tr) to prohibit, esp officially, from action, display, entrance, sale, etc; forbid
to ban a book
to ban smoking
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(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
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archaic to curse
noun
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an official prohibition or interdiction
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law an official proclamation or public notice, esp of prohibition
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a public proclamation or edict, esp of outlawry
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archaic public censure or condemnation
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archaic a curse; imprecation
noun
noun
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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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bansimple
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banssimple
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have bannedperfect
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has bannedperfect
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am banningprogressive
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are banningprogressive
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is banningprogressive
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have been banningperfect progressive
-
has been banningperfect progressive
Past
-
bannedsimple
-
had bannedperfect
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was banningprogressive
-
were banningprogressive
-
had been banningperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing ban
100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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"The Civil Rights Movement"
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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Last month Burnham floated the prospect of lifting the ban on football fans drinking in the stands, though it was quickly clarified that this is not in fact government policy.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
The government presented new emergency housing measures on Tuesday, including tax breaks for tenants and an extension of an eviction ban.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
South Korea has so far not provided lethal weapons to Ukraine, citing a domestic ban on military aid to countries at war.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
The FA had proposed a three-month ban, but the commission gave credit to him for what they called "considerable mitigation in this matter, most particularly around the genuine contrition".
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Two weeks before the scheduled July 1 start of the talks, the Russians suddenly had insisted that the agenda be broadened to encompass negotiation of the test ban itself.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
By then—that would have been 1995—the Shorawi were defeated and long gone and Kabul belonged to Massoud, Rab- bani, and the Mujahedin.
From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini
Our present copy is a tablet from the library of a later king, seemingly Ashur bani apal.
From Assyrian Historiography by A. T. (Albert Ten Eyck) Olmstead
Particularly is this the case with the inscriptions of Sennacherib and Ashur bani apal.
From Assyrian Historiography by A. T. (Albert Ten Eyck) Olmstead
In the true Bedouin spirit he devoted his talent largely to satire and attacked the bani Nahshal and the bani Fuqaim.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 2 "Fairbanks, Erastus" to "Fens" by Various
For the period after the reign of Ashur bani apal, we have only the scantiest data.
From Assyrian Historiography by A. T. (Albert Ten Eyck) Olmstead
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act effectively bans the import of any goods that can be tied to Xinjiang over human-rights concerns.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
Canada is not expected to retaliate further, with Prime Minister Mark Carney saying earlier this month that the impact the import bans will have on Canada's economy is "modest".
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
We have some school systems right now that have imposed A.I. bans or are keeping generative apps restricted to certain uses.
From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026
Traditionally, Japanese convenience stores have also required workers to adhere to relatively conservative dress codes, including bans on certain hair dyes and large earrings.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
These bans an’ wafts an’ boh-ghosts an’ barguests an’ bogles an’ all anent them is only fit to set bairns an’ dizzy women a-belderin’.
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
Polanski, who is himself Jewish, has been banned from Israel.
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026
Last week he banned Canadian imports of alcoholic beverages and motorcycles.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
At the time, captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and batter Cameron Bancroft were banned for their part in the plot.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
On July 30, 1990, Steinbrenner was banned for life from the day-to-day management of the Yankees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
I don’t know what he’d do if his doctors actually banned him from coffee.
From "What If It's Us" by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
The 20th century text is updated with notes on cyberbullying, viral videos , school shootings, conspiracy thinking, conservative populism, book banning and even beer pong.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva signed an executive order banning online sports betting and gaming with immediate effect.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
"Next year it'll be banning something else relatively small...until we're all just eating, you know, chicken nuggets, and we'll have no culinary heritage whatsoever."
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
Security Council to consider narrow agreements banning the use of AI for certain tasks, including creating biological weapons.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Two years later, a handful of states had succeeded in banning texting or use of handheld phones by all drivers.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
