[banz] 
) Ecclesiastical. | 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. |
| banns also bans (bānz) pl.n. An announcement, especially in a church, of an intended marriage. [Middle English banes, pl. of ban, proclamation, from Old English gebann and from Old French ban (of Germanic origin; see bhā-2 in Indo-European roots).] |