Prohibit

How to spell prohibit

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce prohibit

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does prohibit mean?

1. verbTo formally forbid an action by law, rule, or authority.

Prohibit in a sentence

• The new lease will prohibit subletting the flat to anyone else.

• Hospital policy aims to prohibit visitors from bringing in outside food.

Where does prohibit come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin prohibere, which literally meant 'to hold back' or 'to keep away', and which combined pro-, here carrying the sense of 'away' or 'in front', with habere, the everyday Latin verb for 'to hold' or 'to have'. The image behind it is therefore very physical: to prohibit something is to hold it back so it cannot proceed, and that restraining sense softened over time into the modern idea of forbidding by rule or law. English took the word in during the 1400s, partly through Old French and partly straight from the Latin past participle prohibitus, which is exactly why the spelling keeps that single 'h' and the 'bit' ending. The same habere root quietly survives in a whole family of English words, including 'habit', 'inhibit', and 'exhibit', so picturing 'pro-HIB-it' as a relative of 'inhibit' can help fix the spelling.

How the word is built

• pro- (away, forward)
• hib- (from habere: to hold, have)
• -it (verb ending)