banns
Americannoun
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notice of an intended marriage, given three times in the parish church of each of the betrothed.
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any public announcement of a proposed marriage, either verbal or written and made in a church or by church officials.
plural noun
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the public declaration of an intended marriage, usually formally announced on three successive Sundays in the parish churches of both the betrothed
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to raise an objection to a marriage announced in this way
Etymology
Origin of banns
1540–50; variant of bans, plural of ban 2
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.
In 1827, William came up with a plan to elope, telling Maria to meet him at the Red Barn on the Corder's farm, then run off to Ipswich to get the banns for their wedding.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2025
“I’m going to pack up my two kids and my dog and drive up with all my documents,” including their banns, Quebec’s required public announcement of an impending marriage.
From New York Times ● Jul. 7, 2020
The marriage banns, posted on a bulletin board in the town hall, included those for an auto-body painter and a cashier, a zinc roofer and his stay-at-home fiancée, and an optician and a midwife.
From The New Yorker ● May 1, 2017
The banns allow McCartney to marry New York heiress Nancy Shevell any time 16 days after the September 14 posting at the Register office.
From Reuters ● Sep. 17, 2011
The fact that gossip had published the banns was one of the reasons I had come east.
From " The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
