ban
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Prohibit usually by legal means or social pressure.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
banIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbæn
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Prohibit especially by legal means or social pressure
“Smoking is banned in this building.”
transitive
To prohibit; to interdict; to proscribe; to forbid or block from participation.
transitive
To curse; to execrate.
noun
An official prohibition or edict against something
A public proclamation or edict; also, a summons by public proclamation, and in early use especially a summons to arms.
The gathering of the (French) king's vassals for war; the whole body of vassals assembled this way, or liable to be summoned; originally the same as arriere-ban, but distinct since the 16th century, following French usage—see arriere-ban.
A pecuniary mulct or penalty laid upon a delinquent for offending against a ban, such as a mulct paid to a bishop by one guilty of sacrilege or other crimes.
100 bani equal 1 leu in Romania
100 bani equal 1 leu in Moldova
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate
- Frequency
- Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Prohibit especially by legal means or social pressure
Used this way, ban is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a legal use: the wording is institutional and carries a defined meaning in law rather than a loose everyday one.
“Smoking is banned in this building.”
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Law/legal
- Government/politics
- Academic writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Natural pattern: ban in …
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: official prohibition or edict against something
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.