banns

American  

[banz] / bænz /

Or bans

noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. notice of an intended marriage, given three times in the parish church of each of the betrothed.

2. any public announcement of a proposed marriage, either verbal or written and made in a church or by church officials.

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banns British  

/ bænz /

plural noun

1. the public declaration of an intended marriage, usually formally announced on three successive Sundays in the parish churches of both the betrothed

2. to raise an objection to a marriage announced in this way

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Etymology

Origin of banns

1540–50; variant of bans, plural of ban ²

Example Sentences

“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

A photograph of the wedding banns has been posted in several newspapers.

From BBC • May 21, 2018

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

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