- 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.
- 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.
[Middle English bannen, to summon, banish, curse, from Old English bannan, to summon, and from Old Norse banna, to prohibit, curse.]
ban2 (bän)

n., pl., ba·ni (bä'nē).
A unit of currency in Moldova and Romania.
[Romanian, from Serbo-Croatian bān, lord, from Turkic bayan, very rich person : bay, rich, akin to Turkish bay, rich, gentleman + -an, intensive suff.]




