Forbidden

How to spell forbidden

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce forbidden

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does forbidden mean?

1. adjectiveNot allowed by rule, law, or authority.

Forbidden in a sentence

• Smoking is strictly forbidden inside the building.

• The report listed several forbidden chemicals that factories may no longer use.

Where does forbidden come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word descends from the Old English forbeodan, which combined the prefix for-, carrying a sense of prohibition or refusal, with beodan, meaning 'to command, offer, or announce'. The literal idea was therefore to 'command against' something, that is, to ban it outright. The same beodan root also gives us the everyday verb 'bid', as in to bid someone welcome or to bid at an auction, so the family connection is older than it looks. 'Forbidden' is simply the past participle of 'forbid', and English has kept its strong, irregular vowel change (forbid, forbade, forbidden) rather than smoothing it into a regular '-ed' form. The doubled d in the spelling reflects the short stressed vowel in 'bid', and that double letter is the small trap that catches writers who expect a single d.

How the word is built

• for- (Old English prefix here meaning 'against, away, prohibiting')
• bid (from biddan: to command, ask)
• -en (past participle suffix)