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definitions

ban

1
[ban]
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verb (used with object), banned, ban·ning.
  1. to prohibit, forbid, or bar; interdict: to ban nuclear weapons; The dictator banned all newspapers and books that criticized his regime.
  2. Archaic.
    1. to pronounce an ecclesiastical curse upon.
    2. to curse; execrate.
noun
  1. the act of prohibiting by law; interdiction.
  2. informal denunciation or prohibition, as by public opinion: society's ban on racial discrimination.
  3. Law.
    1. a proclamation.
    2. a public condemnation.
  4. Ecclesiastical. a formal condemnation; excommunication.
  5. a malediction; curse.

Origin of ban

1
before 1000; Middle English bannen, Old English bannan to summon, proclaim; cognate with Old Norse banna to curse (probably influencing some senses of ME word), Old High German bannan; akin to Latin fārī to speak, Sanskrit bhanati (he) speaks
Related formsban·na·ble, adjectiveun·banned, adjective
Can be confusedband bannedbanns bans

Synonyms for ban

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1. taboo, outlaw, proscribe. 3. prohibition, proscription, interdict. 3, 4. taboo.

Antonyms for ban

1. allow.

ban

2
[ban]
noun
  1. a public proclamation or edict.
  2. bans, Ecclesiastical. banns.
  3. (in the feudal system)
    1. the summoning of the sovereign's vassals for military service.
    2. the body of vassals summoned.

Origin of ban

2
1200–50; Middle English, aphetic variant of iban, Old English gebann proclamation, summons to arms (derivative of bannan ban1), influenced in some senses by Old French ban, from same Germanic base

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.

Origin of ban

3
1605–15; < Serbo-Croatian bân, contracted from *bojan, *bajan, said to be < a Turkic personal name, perhaps introduced into the Balkans by the Avars; compare Medieval Greek bo(e)ános ban

ban

4
[bahn]
noun, plural ba·ni [bah-nee] /ˈbɑ ni/.
  1. a Romanian coin, the 100th part of a leu.

Origin of ban

4
1960–65; < Romanian, of uncertain origin, perhaps < Serbo-Croatian bân ban3
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for ban

embargo, restriction, refusal, injunction, prohibition, boycott, censorship, prohibit, bar, halt, prevent, suppress, outlaw, restrict, exclude, proscribe, proscription, stoppage, interdiction, limitation

Examples from the Web for ban

Contemporary Examples of ban

Historical Examples of ban

British Dictionary definitions for ban

ban

1
verb bans, banning or banned
  1. (tr) to prohibit, esp officially, from action, display, entrance, sale, etc; forbidto 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

Word Origin for ban

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

ban

2
noun
  1. (in feudal England) the summoning of vassals to perform their military obligations

Word Origin for ban

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

ban

3
noun plural bani (ˈbɑːnɪ)
  1. a monetary unit of Romania and Moldova worth one hundredth of a leu

Word Origin for ban

from Romanian, from Serbo-Croat bān lord
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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.).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper