ban definition | Dictionary.com

ban

1 [ban]

verb, banned, ban⋅ning, noun

–verb (used with object)

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

Archaic.

a.	to pronounce an ecclesiastical curse upon.

b.	to curse; execrate.

–noun

3.	the act of prohibiting by law; interdiction.

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

Law.

a.	a proclamation.

b.	a public condemnation.

6.	Ecclesiastical. a formal condemnation; excommunication.

7.	a malediction; curse.

Origin:
bef. 1000; ME bannen, OE bannan to summon, proclaim; c. ON banna to curse (prob. influencing some senses of ME word), OHG bannan; akin to L fārī to speak, Skt bhanati (he) speaks

Related forms:

ban⋅na⋅ble, adjective

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

Antonyms:
1. allow.

ban

2 [ban]

–noun

1.	a public proclamation or edict.

2.	bans, Ecclesiastical. banns.

(in the feudal system)

a.	the summoning of the sovereign's vassals for military service.

b.	the body of vassals summoned.

Origin:
1200–50; ME, aph. var. of iban, OE gebann proclamation, summons to arms (deriv. of bannan ban ¹ ), influenced in some senses by OF ban, from same Gmc base

ban

3 [ban, bahn]

–noun

1.	(formerly) the governor of Croatia and Slavonia.

2.	History/Historical. a provincial governor of the southern marches of Hungary.

Origin:
1605–15; < Serbo-Croatian bân, contracted from *bojan, *bajan, said to be < a Turkic personal name, perh. introduced into the Balkans by the Avars; cf. MGk bo(e)ános ban

ban

4 [bahn]

–noun, plural ba⋅ni [bah-nee]

a Romanian coin, the 100th part of a leu.

Origin:
1960–65; < Romanian, of uncert. orig., perh. < Serbo-Croatian bân ban ³

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To ban

ban¹ (bān)

tr.v. banned, ban·ning, bans

To prohibit, especially by official decree: The city council banned billboards on most streets. See Synonyms at forbid.
South African Under the former system of apartheid, to deprive (a person suspected of illegal activity) of the right of free movement and association with others.
Archaic To curse.

An excommunication or condemnation by church officials.
A prohibition imposed by law or official decree: a ban on cigarette smoking on airplanes.
Censure, condemnation, or disapproval expressed especially by public opinion.
A curse; an imprecation.
A summons to arms in feudal times.

[Middle English bannen, to summon, banish, curse, from Old English bannan, to summon, and from Old Norse banna, to prohibit, curse; see bhā-² in Indo-European roots.]

ban² (bän)

n. pl. ba·ni (bä'nē)
See Table at currency.

[Romanian, from Serbo-Croatian bān, lord, from Turkic bayan, very rich person : bay, rich; akin to Turkish bay, rich, gentleman + -an, intensive suff.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Ban

Ban\ (b[a^]n), n. [AS. bann command, edict; akin to D. ban, Icel. bann, Dan. band, OHG. ban, G. bann, a public proclamation, as of interdiction or excommunication, Gr. fa`nai to say, L. fari to speak, Skr. bhan to speak; cf. F. ban, LL. bannum, of G. origin. [root]86. Cf. Abandon, Fame.]

1. A public proclamation or edict; a public order or notice, mandatory or prohibitory; a summons by public proclamation.

2. (Feudal & Mil.) A calling together of the king's (esp. the French king's) vassals for military service; also, the body of vassals thus assembled or summoned. In present usage, in France and Prussia, the most effective part of the population liable to military duty and not in the standing army.

3. pl. Notice of a proposed marriage, proclaimed in church. See Banns (the common spelling in this sense).

4. An interdiction, prohibition, or proscription. "Under ban to touch." --Milton.

5. A curse or anathema. "Hecate's ban." --Shak.

6. A pecuniary mulct or penalty laid upon a delinquent for offending against a ban; as, a mulct paid to a bishop by one guilty of sacrilege or other crimes.

Ban of the empire (German Hist.), an imperial interdict by which political rights and privileges, as those of a prince, city, or district, were taken away.

Ban

Ban\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Banned (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Banning.] [OE. bannen, bannien, to summon, curse, AS. bannan to summon; akin to Dan. bande, forbande, to curse, Sw. banna to revile, bannas to curse. See Ban an edict, and cf. Banish.]

1. To curse; to invoke evil upon. --Sir W. Scott.

2. To forbid; to interdict. --Byron.

Ban

Ban\, v. i. To curse; to swear. [Obs.] --Spenser.

Ban

Ban\, n. [Serv. ban; cf. Russ. & Pol. pan a master? lord, Per. ban.] An ancient title of the warden of the eastern marches of Hungary; now, a title of the viceroy of Croatia and Slavonia.

Language Translation for : ban

Spanish: prohibición, veda,

German: das Verbot,

Japanese: 禁止

More Translations »

ban (v.)

O.E. bannan "to summon by proclamation," a sense surviving only in banns of marriage (1198; spelling with double -n- attested from 1549), which also is partly from O.Fr. ban "public proclamation," from Frank. *ban, cognate of the O.E. word. Main modern sense of "prohibit" is from O.N. banna "curse, prohibit," and probably in part from O.Fr. ban, which also meant "outlawry, banishment." O.E., Frank. and O.N. words all are from P.Gmc. *bannan "proclaim, command, forbid" (cf. O.H.G. bannan "to command or forbit under threat of punishment," Ger. bannen "banish, expel, curse"), from PIE base *bha- "to speak" (cf. O.Ir. bann "law," from the same root; see fame). Sense evolved from "speak" to "proclaim a threat" to "curse." Banned in Boston dates from 1920s, in allusion to the excessive zeal and power of that city's Watch and Ward Society.

ban (n.)

"governor of Croatia," from Serbo-Croat. ban "lord, master, ruler," from Pers. ban "prince, lord, chief, governor," related to Skt. pati "guards, protects." Hence banat "district governed by a ban," with Latinate suffix -atus.

BAN

See bond anticipation note.

Main Entry: ban
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: banned; ban·ning
: to prohibit or forbid esp. by legal means (as by statute or order) <ban solicitation>; also : to prohibit the use, performance, or distribution of ban DDT>

Main Entry: ban
Function: noun
: prohibition esp. by statute or order ban on automatic weapons>

ban

former Hungarian title denoting a governor of a military district (banat) and later designating a local representative of the Hungarian king in outlying possessions, e.g., Bosnia and Croatia. Originally a Persian word, ban was introduced into Europe by the Avars. The Kingdom of Yugoslavia, divided into banovine, or provinces, revived the title and office of ban in October 1929 and used it until the German-Italian invasion of April 1941.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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