banishment

American  

[ban-ish-muhnt] / ˈbæn ɪʃ mənt /

noun

1. expulsion from a country, place, or position by authoritative decree, or the state of having been expelled.

   A royal proclamation ordered the banishment of all priests from the city.

   The team’s wide receiver flunked another drug test and will now be subject to a one-year banishment, according to league sources.

2. the act of driving away, or the state of having been sent away or driven out.

   We strive for the preservation of peace and the banishment of tyranny and slavery from the earth.

   The decades after World War II were marked not by disarmament and the banishment of war but by ceaseless confrontation and the division of the world into hostile blocs.

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Other Word Forms

• nonbanishment noun
• probanishment noun
• self-banishment noun

Etymology

Origin of banishment

banish ( def. ) + -ment ( def. )

Explanation

When someone is punished by being made to leave a particular place, it's called banishment. If your new puppy chews up another of your dad's shoes, it may mean banishment to the backyard. In the old days, banishment was a common punishment for serious crimes — exiling someone from their town or village was shameful, leaving them estranged from their family and community. One particularly well-known banishment occurs in the Bible, when Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden of Eden. Today it's more common to use this word in a less serious way: "My banishment from the kitchen was inevitable after I broke three glasses in a row."

Example Sentences

The opprobrium that ensued in the course of a shamelessly one-sided trial shredded their reputations, cost them their jobs and led to an incurable banishment from public life.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

Let’s say you were ordered deported and you now faced banishment from your country.

From Slate • Feb. 17, 2026

Despite its extended running time, the episode ended without a murder or a banishment, leaving us with a huge number of questions.

From BBC • Oct. 8, 2025

It may not have been felonious enough to demand civil punishment, but it certainly required banishment from the game and from any of its rewards.

From Salon • Jun. 13, 2025

After forty years of persecution and banishment, the ANC was now a legal organization.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

Related Words

• deportation
• expulsion