banish

American

[ban-ish] / ˈbæn ɪʃ /

verb (used with object)

to expel from or relegate to a country or place by authoritative decree; condemn to exile.

He was banished to Devil's Island.

Synonyms:

deport, outlaw, expatriate, exile
to compel to depart; send, drive, or put away.

to banish sorrow.

banish British

/ ˈbænɪʃ /

verb

to expel from a place, esp by an official decree as a punishment
to drive away

to banish gloom

"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

Other Word Forms

banisher noun
banishment noun
self-banished adjective
unbanished adjective

Etymology

Origin of banish

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English banisshen, from Anglo-French, Old French baniss-, long stem of banir, from unrecorded Frankish bannjan “to proclaim,” akin to ban ¹

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023