ban

1
[ ban ]
See synonyms for: banbannedbanning on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object),banned, ban·ning.
  1. to prohibit, forbid, or bar; interdict: to ban nuclear weapons;The dictator banned all newspapers and books that criticized his regime.

  2. Archaic.

    • to pronounce an ecclesiastical curse upon.

    • to curse; execrate.

noun
  1. the act of prohibiting by law; interdiction.

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

  1. Law.

    • a proclamation.

    • a public condemnation.

  2. Ecclesiastical. a formal condemnation; excommunication.

  3. a malediction; curse.

Origin of ban

1
First recorded before 1000; Middle English bannen, Old English bannan “to summon, proclaim”; cognate with Old Norse banna to curse (probably influencing some senses of Middle English word), Old High German bannan; akin to Latin fārī “to speak,” Sanskrit bhanati “(he) speaks”

Other words for ban

Opposites for ban

Other words from ban

  • ban·na·ble, adjective
  • un·banned, adjective

Words that may be confused with ban

Other definitions for ban (2 of 4)

ban2
[ ban ]

noun
  1. a public proclamation or edict.

  2. bans, Ecclesiastical. banns.

  1. (in the feudal system)

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

    • the body of vassals summoned.

Origin of ban

2
First recorded in 1200–50; Middle English, ban, ban(n)e, iban “a lord's proclamation or edict or summons,” Old English (ge)ban(n) “proclamation, ordinance, summons to arms” (derivative of bannan ); influenced in some senses by Old French ban (Anglicized as ban ), from the same Germanic source; see ban1

Other definitions for ban (3 of 4)

ban3
[ ban, bahn ]

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

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

Origin of ban

3
First recorded in 1605–15; from Serbo-Croatian bân, contracted from unattested bojan, bajan, said to be from a Turkic personal name, perhaps introduced into the Balkans by the Avars; compare Medieval Greek bo(e)ános “governor”

Other definitions for ban (4 of 4)

ban4
[ bahn ]

noun,plural ba·ni [bah-nee]. /ˈbɑ ni/.
  1. a Romanian coin, one 100th of a leu.

Origin of ban

4
First recorded in 1960–65; from Romanian, of uncertain origin, perhaps from Serbo-Croatian bân “provincial governor”; see origin at ban3

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use ban in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for ban (1 of 3)

ban1

/ (bæn) /


verbbans, banning or banned
  1. (tr) to prohibit, esp officially, from action, display, entrance, sale, etc; forbid: to ban a book; to ban smoking

  2. (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

  1. archaic to curse

noun
  1. an official prohibition or interdiction

  2. law an official proclamation or public notice, esp of prohibition

  1. a public proclamation or edict, esp of outlawry

  2. archaic public censure or condemnation

  3. archaic a curse; imprecation

Origin of ban

1
Old English bannan to proclaim; compare Old Norse banna to forbid, Old High German bannan to command

British Dictionary definitions for ban (2 of 3)

ban2

/ (bæn) /


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

Origin of ban

2
C13: from Old French ban, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German ban command, Old Norse bann ban 1

British Dictionary definitions for ban (3 of 3)

ban3

/ (bæn) /


nounplural bani (ˈbɑːnɪ)
  1. a monetary unit of Romania and Moldova worth one hundredth of a leu

Origin of ban

3
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