I. ˈban, -aa(ə)n verb
( banned ; banned ; banning ; bans )
Etymology: Middle English bannen to curse, summon, from Old English bannan to summon; akin to Old High German bannan to command, Old Norse banna to prohibit, Latin fari to speak, Greek phanai to say, phōnē sound, voice, Sanskrit bhanati he speaks
transitive verb
1. archaic : curse
he blessed his friend and banned his foe
2. : to prohibit especially by legal means or social pressure the performance, activities, dissemination, or use of
ban a political party
ban a book
good manners ban slovenly dress in restaurants
a bill to ban birth-control literature
intransitive verb
: to utter maledictions
the serious world will scold and ban — J.R.Drake
Synonyms: see forbid
II. noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English, partly from bannen, v. & partly from Old French ban summoning of the king's vassals for military service, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German ban command, prohibition, jurisdiction, bannan to command, Old Norse bann prohibition
1. : the summoning in feudal times of the king's vassals for military service ; also : the body of feudal vassals so summoned — compare arrie re-ban
2.
a. obsolete : a public proclamation or edict : summons by public proclamation
b. archaic : banns 1
3. : a solemn curse formally made by ecclesiastical authority : anathema
a person under the pope's ban
a city placed under ban of pope and church
4.
a. : a curse that calls down evil or harm upon a person or thing : an incantatory malediction
a father's ban upon his wayward son
b. archaic : a maledictory oath : a profane exclamation
blasphemous bans and shouts
5. : legal prohibition : official interdict
the Senate committee also voted to continue the ban on price support of potatoes — Wall Street Journal
lift the ban on the sale of a product
the delegates voted against the ban of Communists from the teaching profession — Key Reporter
6. : censure or condemnation especially through public opinion, social pressure, or moral or ethical considerations : severe disapproval
a ban on the use of atomic weapons
a ban on high-pressure salesmanship
he became a lawyer; but the profession was under ban with the upper classes — Encyc. Americana
III. ˈbän noun
( -s )
Etymology: Serbo-Croatian bān lord, ruler; akin to Old Russian bojanŭ rhapsodist, of Turkic origin; akin to Turkish bay rich man
: a provincial governor of former times in Hungary, Croatia, or Slavonia with military powers in time of war
IV. ˈbän noun
( plural ba·ni ˈbä(ˌ)nē)
Etymology: Romanian
1. : a Romanian unit of value equal to 1/100 leu — see money table
2. : a coin representing one ban