Main Entry: ¹ban

Pronunciation: \ˈban\

Function: verb

Inflected Form(s): banned; ban·ning

Etymology: Middle English bannen to summon, curse, from Old English bannan to summon; akin to Old High German bannan to command, Latin fari to speak, Greek phanai to say, phōnē sound, voice

Date: 12th century

transitive verb 1 archaic : curse
2 : to prohibit especially by legal means <ban discrimination>; also : to prohibit the use, performance, or distribution of <ban a book> <ban a pesticide>
3 : bar 3c <banned from the U.N.>intransitive verb archaic : to utter curses or maledictions