ban

views updated May 11 2018

ban / ban/ • v. (banned, ban·ning) [tr.] (often be banned) officially or legally prohibit: he was banned from driving for a year a proposal to ban all trade in ivory. ∎ officially exclude (someone) from a place: he once was banned from a casino in Reno.• n. 1. an official or legal prohibition: a proposed ban on cigarette advertising a three-year driving ban. ∎ an official exclusion of a person from an organization, country, or activity: a ban on homosexuals in the armed forces.2. a tacit prohibition by public opinion: Barenboim proposed to defy an unwritten ban on Wagner's works.ban² / bän/ • n. (pl. ba·ni / ˈbänē/ ) a monetary unit of Romania, equal to one hundredth of a leu.

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English

ban

views updated May 29 2018

ban1 in earliest use ‘proclamation, summons to arms’ (XIII); partly aphetic of ME. iban, OE. ġebann, partly — OF. ban — Gmc. *bannan BAN2. The later senses ‘curse’ (XV), ‘prohibition’ (XVII) are prob. partly a separate word, f. BAN2. Cf. BANNS.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

ban

views updated Jun 11 2018

ban2 †proclaim, summon OE.; †curse XII; prohibit XIX. OE. bannan (str. vb.) = OHG. bannan :- Gmc. *bannan. Weak inflexions from XIII.

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD

BAN

views updated May 29 2018

BAN British Association of Neurologists

The Oxford Dictionary of Abbreviations FRAN ALEXANDER , PETER BLAIR , JOHN DAINTITH , ALICE GRANDISON , VALERIE ILLINGWORTH , ELIZABETH MARTIN , ANNE STIBBS , JUDY PEARSALL , and SARA TULLOCH