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

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 Daily Mirror and The Sun tabloids said on Saturday that McCartney and Shevell, who posted wedding banns last month, would be married at London's Marylebone Register Office before 30 invited guests.

From Reuters • Oct. 8, 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