ban
To prohibit; to interdict; to proscribe; to forbid or block from participation.
Verb 4 meanings
To prohibit; to interdict; to proscribe; to forbid or block from participation.
“Bare feet are banned in this establishment.”
To anathematize; to pronounce an ecclesiastical curse upon; to place under a ban.
To curse; to execrate.
To curse; to utter curses or maledictions.
Noun 4 meanings
A prohibition.
A public proclamation or edict; also, a summons by public proclamation, and in early use especially a summons to arms.
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.
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.
Etymology
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”).
Similar and opposite words
BAN at a glance
BAN has 3 letters and scores 5 points in Scrabble (B 3 + A 1 + N 1) and 7 in Words With Friends, before board bonuses. It ranks #2,656 by how often it appears in everyday English. It is valid in ENABLE, NWL2023, Collins/SOWPODS.
Rhymes with ban
All rhymes- URBAN7
- SUBURBAN12
- TURBAN8
- INTERURBAN12
- KANBAN12
- UNBAN7
- CORBAN10
- EXURBAN16
- KOBAN11
- GOBAN8
- AMBAN9
- AMEBAN10
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