contraband

noun

con·​tra·​band ˈkän-trə-ˌband 

1

: illegal or prohibited traffic in goods : smuggling

… persons the most bound in duty to prevent contraband …

—Edmund Burke

2

: goods or merchandise whose importation, exportation, or possession is forbidden

Border police searched the car for drugs and other contraband.

also : smuggled goods

3

plural contrabands : an enslaved person who during the American Civil War escaped to or was brought within the Union lines

contraband adjective

Did you know?

Contraband first appeared in English in the early 1500s as a borrowing of Italian contrabbando. This Italian word can be traced to the Medieval Latin word contrabannum, a combination of contra- ("against") and bannum ("decree"). Bannum is Germanic in origin and is related to Old High German bannan ("to command"). Bannan is also related to Middle English bannen ("to summon or to curse"), the source of the English verb ban, which now means "to prohibit" but which once also meant "to curse."

Examples of contraband in a Sentence

The border police searched the car for drugs and other contraband.

Recent Examples on the Web

Waupun Correctional Institution has also faced a series of deaths among those incarcerated there in recent years and is now under investigation by federal officials over how drugs and contraband were smuggled inside. —Laura Schulte, jsonline.com, 27 Oct. 2025

Previous airspace violations involving balloons carrying contraband cigarettes caused closures of airspace above Vilnius on October 5 and 21, leading to the cancellation of dozens of flights. —Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 25 Oct. 2025

This strangely constructed palimpsest of a novel is itself a museum of sacred contraband. —Brittany Allen, Literary Hub, 23 Oct. 2025

Their testimonies supplied evidence, such as dash cam footage, videos of Rocha shooting and 3D printing guns, police interviews with Rocha and his mother, and incidents where Rocha was found with contraband in prison. —Pj Green october 9, Kansas City Star, 9 Oct. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Middle French & Italian; Middle French contrebande, borrowed from Italian contrabando (later contrabbando), originally Upper Italian (Venetian) chontrabando (Medieval Latin of Venice contrabannum), from contra- contra- + bando "proclamation, edict, law," borrowed from Gothic bandwo "sign, signal" — more at band entry 3

First Known Use

circa 1540, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for contraband

• ampersand
• beforehand
• behindhand
• bottomland
• countermand
• dixieland
• fairyland
• fatherland
• firebrand
• hinterland
• motherland
• narrowband

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Kids Definition

contraband

noun

con·​tra·​band ˈkän-trə-ˌband 

1

: goods forbidden by law to be owned or to be brought into or out of a country

2

: smuggled goods

contraband adjective

Etymology

from Italian contrabbando "smuggling," from Latin contrabannum, literally, "against the decree or command," from contra "against" and bannum, bannus "decree"; of Germanic origin

Legal Definition

contraband

noun

con·​tra·​band ˈkän-trə-ˌband 

: property that is unlawfully produced, possessed, or transported

— contraband per se

: property that is in and of itself unlawful to possess, produce, or transport

— derivative contraband

: property that is unlawful because it is used in committing an unlawful act

Etymology

Italian contrabbando act of smuggling, from contra- against + bando edict, law