Ban

How to spell ban

3 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce ban

What does ban mean?

1. verbTo officially forbid something or someone, usually by law or formal rule.
2. nounAn official order that forbids something.

Ban in a sentence

• verb

  The council voted to ban smoking in all public parks.

• noun

  The government imposed a ban on single-use plastic bags.

• verb

  Many airlines now ban certain devices from checked luggage.

• noun

  Campaigners called for a complete ban on fireworks in residential areas.

Where does ban come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The word traces back to the Old English verb bannan, which meant to summon, to proclaim, or to command by public announcement. It shares roots with the Old Norse banna, meaning to prohibit or to curse, and with an Old French and Frankish noun ban that referred to a lord's formal proclamation or jurisdiction. Over the centuries the sense narrowed from any official announcement toward the idea of an order that forbids something, since proclamations were so often used to outlaw or condemn. The same Germanic family gives us the old phrase 'banns of marriage', the public proclamation read before a wedding, and even the word 'banish', meaning to drive out by decree. Because the word is short and phonetically regular, its spelling has stayed simple and stable throughout its history.

How the word is built

• ban (from Old English bannan: to summon, proclaim, forbid); single root, no affixes