ban
1 (băn)
[Middle English bannen, to summon, banish, curse, from Old English bannan, to summon,, and from Old Norse banna, to prohibit, curse.]
transitive verb: banned, ban·ning, bans.
- To prohibit, especially by official decree: The city council banned billboards on most streets. See synonyms at forbid
- South African Under the former system of apartheid, to deprive (a person suspected of illegal activity) of the right of free movement and association with others.
- Archaic To curse.
noun
- An excommunication or condemnation by church officials.
- A prohibition imposed by law or official decree: a ban on cigarette smoking on airplanes.
- Censure, condemnation, or disapproval expressed especially by public opinion.
- A curse; an imprecation.
- A summons to arms in feudal times.
ban
2 (bän)
[Romanian, from Serbo-Croatian bān, lord, from Turkic bayan, very rich person, bay, richTurkish bay, rich, gentleman, + -an, intensive suff.]
noun: pl., ba·ni (bä́nē)
- A unit of currency in Moldova and Romania.