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.
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 same impudent fantasy provoked Austen to scribble marriage banns for herself and a variety of imaginary husbands in the register of her father's church.
From The Guardian • Jan. 17, 2013
As a result, you may miss some crucial plot details, like the fact that Claudio and Julietta were really considered married; Claudio just had not paid for the banns.
From New York Times • Aug. 19, 2012
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
I did not want to be associated with the issue of a campesina who had had no respect for the holy banns of matrimony or for the good name of Mirabal.
From "In the Time of the Butterflies" by Julia Alvarez
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.
