- (transitive) to prohibit, esp officially, from action, display, entrance, sale, etc; forbid
- an official prohibition or interdiction
- a public proclamation or edict, esp of outlawry
- archaic a curse; imprecation
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
ban1 /bæn/USA pronunciation
v., banned, ban•ning, n.
v.
n. [countable]
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026v.
- to prohibit, forbid, or bar;
interdict: [ ~ + obj]:The two countries agreed to ban the testing of nuclear weapons.[ ~ + obj + from ]:She was banned from competition.
n. [countable]
- Lawa prohibition by law:a ban on smoking.
ban1
(ban),USA pronunciation v., banned, ban•ning, n.
v.t.
n.
ban′na•ble, adj.
ban2 (ban),USA pronunciation n.
ban3 (ban, bän),USA pronunciation n.
ban4 (bän),USA pronunciation n., pl. ba•ni
v.t.
- to prohibit, forbid, or bar;
interdict:to ban nuclear weapons; The dictator banned all newspapers and books that criticized his regime. - [Archaic.]
- to pronounce an ecclesiastical curse upon.
- to curse;
execrate.
n.
- Lawthe act of prohibiting by law;
interdiction. - Lawinformal denunciation or prohibition, as by public opinion:society's ban on racial discrimination.
- [Law.]
- a proclamation.
- a public condemnation.
- [Eccles.]a formal condemnation;
excommunication. - a malediction;
curse.
- bef. 1000; Middle English bannen, Old English bannan to summon, proclaim; cognate with Old Norse banna to curse (probably influencing some senses of Middle English word), Old High German bannan; akin to Latin fārī to speak, Sanskrit bhanati (he) speaks
- 1. taboo, outlaw, proscribe. 3. prohibition, proscription, interdict. 3. 4. taboo.
- 1. allow.
ban2 (ban),USA pronunciation n.
- a public proclamation or edict.
- bans, [Eccles.]banns.
- World History(in the feudal system)
- the summoning of the sovereign's vassals for military service.
- the body of vassals summoned.
- Middle English, aphetic variant of iban, Old English gebann proclamation, summons to arms (derivative of bannan ban1), influenced in some senses by Old French ban, from same Gmc base 1200–50
ban3 (ban, bän),USA pronunciation n.
- World History(formerly) the governor of Croatia and Slavonia.
- World History[Hist.]a provincial governor of the southern marches of Hungary.
- a Turkic personal name, perh. introduced into the Balkans by the Avars; compare Medieval Greek bo(e)ános ban
- Serbo-Croatian bân, contracted from *bojan, *bajan, said to be
- 1605–15
ban4 (bän),USA pronunciation n., pl. ba•ni
-
(bä′nē).USA pronunciation
- Currencya Rumanian coin, the 100th part of a leu.
- Serbo-Croatian bân ban3
- Rumanian, of uncertain origin, originally, perh.
- 1960–65
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
ban /bæn/ vb (bans, banning, banned)
'ban' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Amnesty International
- banal
- bandit
- banish
- banner
- banns
- bone
- CD
- censor
- contraband
- Geneva Protocol
- green ban
- Harriman
- name
- outlaw
- raise
- taboo
- test ban
- veto
- anathematize
- antinoise
- antiurban
- arrière-ban
- Banat
- Banbury cake
- Banbury tart
- Bancroft Prize
- Banda Sea
- banderole
- Bandjermasin
- bandoleer
- bandy
- Bangalore torpedo
- bangle
- bani
- banister back
- Banjermasin
- banjo
- banjo clock
- Banjul
- Ban-Lon
- banner cloud
- banneret
- banquet
- banquet room
- banshee
- Bantam work
- banter
- ban-the-bomber
- banyan