ban

Meaning

Noun

1. A prohibition.
2. A public proclamation or edict; also, a summons by public proclamation, and in early use especially a summons to arms.
3. The gathering of the (French) king’s vassals for war; the whole body of vassals assembled this way, or liable to be summoned; originally the same as arriere-ban, but distinct since the 16th century, following French usage—see arriere-ban.
4. (obsolete) A curse or anathema.
5. A pecuniary mulct or penalty laid upon a delinquent for offending against a ban, such as a mulct paid to a bishop by one guilty of sacrilege or other crimes.

Verb

1. (obsolete, transitive) To summon; to call out.
2. (transitive) To anathematize; to pronounce an ecclesiastical curse upon; to place under a ban.
3. (transitive) To curse; to execrate.
4. (transitive) To prohibit; to interdict; to proscribe; to forbid or block from participation.
5. (ambitransitive) To curse; to utter curses or maledictions.

Synonyms

prohibition

prohibit

forbid

interdict

taboo

embargo

interdiction

forbiddance

disallow

banish

bar

proscribe

outlaw

boycott

prevent

ostracize

blackball

resist

anathema

veto

proscription

censor

banning

injunction

excommunication

forbidding

cast out

shun

suspension

proclaim

inhibition

debar

ostracise

stop

🛑

commandment

command

blast

comb

clobber

avoid

chide

chastise

berate

exclude

enjoin

end

🔚

be after

abjure

drub

cant

Translations

interdire

prohibición

interdiction

Verbot

verbieten

proibire

interdizione

vietare

proibir

prohibir

bandire

απαγόρευση

proibizione

Bann

proibição

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bæn/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: bannen

Inherited from Old English: bannan

Cognate with Dutch: bannen

Cognate with German: bannen

Cognate with Swedish: banna

Cognate with Armenian: բան

Cognate with Albanian: banoj

Cognate with Serbo-Croatian: ban

In summary

Inherited from Middle English bannen (“to summon; to banish; to curse”), partly from Old English bannan (“to summon, command, proclaim, call out”), from Proto-West Germanic *bannan; and partly from Old Norse banna (“to prohibit; to curse”), both from Proto-Germanic *bannaną (“to proclaim, to order; to summon; to ban; to curse, forbid”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂-new-ti ~ bʰh₂-n̥w-énti, innovative nasal-infixed zero-grade athematic present of *bʰeh₂- (“to say”).
Cognate with Dutch bannen (“to ban, exile, discard”), German bannen (“to exile, to exorcise, captivate, excommunicate”), Swedish banna (“to ban, scold”), Vedic Sanskrit भनति (bhánati), Armenian բան (ban) and perhaps Albanian banoj (“to reside, dwell”). See also banal, abandon.