bans

[ banz ]

/ bænz /

noun (used with a plural verb) Ecclesiastical.

banns.

Nearby words

Can be confusedbanns bans

ban

[ ban ]

/ bæn /

verb (used with object), banned, ban·ning.

to prohibit, forbid, or bar; interdict: to ban nuclear weapons; The dictator banned all newspapers and books that criticized his regime.

Archaic.

to pronounce an ecclesiastical curse upon.
to curse; execrate.

noun

the act of prohibiting by law; interdiction.

informal denunciation or prohibition, as by public opinion: society's ban on racial discrimination.

Law.

a proclamation.
a public condemnation.

Ecclesiastical. a formal condemnation; excommunication.

a malediction; curse.

Origin of ban

before 1000; Middle English bannen, Old English bannan to summon, proclaim; cognate with Old Norse banna to curse (probably influencing some senses of ME word), Old High German bannan; akin to Latin fārī to speak, Sanskrit bhanati (he) speaks

SYNONYMS FOR ban

1. taboo, outlaw, proscribe. 3. prohibition, proscription, interdict. 3, 4. taboo.

ANTONYMS FOR ban

1. allow.

Related formsban·na·ble, adjectiveun·banned, adjective

Can be confusedband bannedbanns bans

banns

or bans

[ banz ]

/ bænz /

noun (used with a plural verb) Ecclesiastical.

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

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

Origin of banns

1540–50; variant of bans, plural of ban²

Can be confusedbanns bans

ban

[ ban ]

/ bæn /

noun

a public proclamation or edict.

bans, Ecclesiastical. banns.

(in the feudal system)

the summoning of the sovereign's vassals for military service.
the body of vassals summoned.

Origin of ban

1200–50; Middle English, aphetic variant of iban, Old English gebann proclamation, summons to arms (derivative of bannan ban¹), influenced in some senses by Old French ban, from same Germanic base

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bans

New York blinks in the face of uncertainty and bans hydraulic fracturing.
New York’s Conservative Fracking Ban|Jay Michaelson|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
UNO currently bans students from smoking in their own cars on campus, despite the fact that it has no legal grounds to do so.
The University Of New Orleans’ Cigarette Ban Is Total BS|Chloé Valdary|October 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
These bans were briefly lifted in 1999 by Miss America CEO Robert Beck; they were quickly reinstated, and Beck was fired.
There She Is! Deport the Miss America Pageant.|Amy Zimmerman|October 6, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Not to be outdone, North Korea bans all religious practice of any kind.
State Department Highlights Actual Oppression Against Christians|Jay Michaelson|July 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST

In Britain, bans on same-sex marriages were described as “a form of sexual apartheid.”
Don’t Accuse Israel of Apartheid|Benjamin Pogrund|July 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Out of the chaos, as he stood looking at them with his mouth open, came the word "bans," and smote him like a blast of East wind.
A Man of Means|P. G. Wodehouse and C. H. Bovill
But he runs the risk of the Quis tulerit Gracchos retort when he bans "all punsters and conundrum makers."
Mr. Punch's History of Modern England, Vol. I (of 4).--1841-1857|Charles L. Graves
The moralist who bans passion is not of our time; his place these many years is with the dead.
Little Essays of Love and Virtue|Havelock Ellis
A hundred thousand bans and maledictions fall upon Mercury and Haas, the architect, who sent for me to look at it!
The Man-Wolf and Other Tales|Emile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian
Henry thought that was no reason for Patty's staying at home; she ought rather to go and hear the bans were cried all right.
Put Yourself in His Place|Charles Reade

British Dictionary definitions for bans

bans

/ (bænz) /

pl n

a variant spelling of banns

banns

bans

/ (bænz) /

pl n

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

forbid the banns to raise an objection to a marriage announced in this way

Word Origin for banns

C14: plural of bann proclamation; see ban 1

ban

/ (bæn) /

verb bans, banning or banned

(tr) to prohibit, esp officially, from action, display, entrance, sale, etc; forbidto ban a book; to ban smoking

(tr) (formerly in South Africa) to place (a person suspected of illegal political activity) under a government order restricting his movement and his contact with other people

archaic to curse

noun

an official prohibition or interdiction

law an official proclamation or public notice, esp of prohibition

a public proclamation or edict, esp of outlawry

archaic public censure or condemnation

archaic a curse; imprecation

Word Origin for ban

Old English bannan to proclaim; compare Old Norse banna to forbid, Old High German bannan to command

ban

/ (bæn) /

noun

(in feudal England) the summoning of vassals to perform their military obligations

Word Origin for ban

C13: from Old French ban, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German ban command, Old Norse bann ban 1

ban

/ (bæn) /

noun plural bani (ˈbɑːnɪ)

a monetary unit of Romania and Moldova worth one hundredth of a leu

Word Origin for ban

from Romanian, from Serbo-Croat bān lord

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for bans

ban

Old English bannan "to summon, command, proclaim," from Proto-Germanic *bannan "proclaim, command, forbid" (cf. Old High German bannan "to command or forbid under threat of punishment," German bannen "banish, expel, curse"), originally "to speak publicly," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak" (cf. Old Irish bann "law," Armenian ban "word;" see fame (n.)).

Main modern sense of "to prohibit" (late 14c.) is from Old Norse cognate banna "to curse, prohibit," and probably in part from Old French ban, which meant "outlawry, banishment," among other things (see banal) and was a borrowing from Germanic. The sense evolution in Germanic was from "speak" to "proclaim a threat" to (in Norse, German, etc.) "curse."

The Germanic root, borrowed in Latin and French, has been productive, e.g. banish, bandit, contraband, etc. Related: Banned; banning. Banned in Boston dates from 1920s, in allusion to the excessive zeal and power of that city's Watch and Ward Society.

ban

n.2

"governor of Croatia," from Serbo-Croatian ban "lord, master, ruler," from Persian ban "prince, lord, chief, governor," related to Sanskrit pati "guards, protects." Hence banat "district governed by a ban," with Latinate suffix -atus. The Persian word got into Slavic perhaps via the Avars.

banns

see bann.

ban

n.1

"edict of prohibition," c.1300, "proclamation or edict of an overlord," from Old English (ge)bann "proclamation, summons, command" and Old French ban, both from Germanic; see ban (v.).

bans

noun (used with a plural verb) Ecclesiastical.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

ban

verb (used with object), banned, ban·ning.

noun

Origin of ban

banns

or bans

noun (used with a plural verb) Ecclesiastical.

Origin of banns

ban

noun

Origin of ban

Examples from the Web for bans

bans

pl n

banns

bans

pl n

Word Origin for banns

ban

verb bans, banning or banned

noun

Word Origin for ban

ban

noun

Word Origin for ban

ban

noun plural bani (ˈbɑːnɪ)

Word Origin for ban

ban

ban

banns

ban