ban English · revision 4640

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=a. 1000|origins=gem-pro *bannaną}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bæn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|bannen]],^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|bannan|t=to summon, command, proclaim]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[gem-pro|*bannaną|t=to speak publicly]], used of various proclamations, commands and summonses,^(Etymonline) also the source of Old Frisian banna “to command, proclaim” and German bannen “to banish, expel, curse”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) apparently a Germanic specialization of [[ine-pro|*bʰeh₂-|alt=*bha-|t=to speak, tell, say]],^(Etymonline) the source of Latin fārī and Greek phanai “to speak”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The senses “to curse” and “to prohibit” probably came in part from the Old Norse cognate banna “to curse, prohibit”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The noun is partly from Old English ġebann “proclamation, summons” and partly from Old North French ban “summoning of the king's vassals, proclamation”, from Frankish *ban.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To summon by proclamation, chiefly to arms: before 1000 in the OED, before 800 in Barnhart, in the poetry of Cynewulf.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) The noun, a public proclamation or edict: about 1300 in Barnhart and Etymonline, 1297 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense development in Germanic was from “speak” to “proclaim a threat” to “curse, anathematize”.^(Etymonline) To curse or condemn is from the mid-12th century,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and an ecclesiastical curse from 1303.^(OED 1989) To prohibit is from the late 14th century (about 1378 in Barnhart),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) though Hoad dates it to the 19th century.^(Hoad 1986) The noun meaning an authoritative prohibition is from the 1660s,^(Etymonline) the 17th century in Hoad.^(Hoad 1986) ''Ban the bomb'' was a slogan of the nuclear disarmament movement from 1955,^(Etymonline) and ''banned in Boston'' dates from the 1920s.^(Etymonline) The root, borrowed into Latin and French, has also given [[abandon]], [[banal]], [[banish]], [[bandit]] and [[banns]].^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) In northern English and Scots dialect ban still means to curse or swear.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a. 1000 – to summon.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-12th century – to curse.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1297 – noun, a proclamation.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1378 – to prohibit.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1660s – noun, a prohibition.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1955 – ''ban the bomb''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To forbid, especially by official decree.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To forbid someone from doing something or going somewhere.^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(archaic)'' To [[curse]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # An official [[prohibition]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Strong public disapproval.^(AHD)

+ # ''(history)'' An excommunication; a curse.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(history)'' A summons to arms in feudal times, or the body of vassals so summoned.^(AHD)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bannable]]

+ * [[ban-the-bomber]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[banns]]

+ * [[banish]]

+ * [[abandon]]

+ * [[banal]]

+ * [[bandit]]

+ * [[contraband]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Unrelated are ban, the title of a governor of the southern marches of Hungary and of Croatia (1610s), from Serbo-Croatian ban “lord, ruler”,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) and ban, a Romanian coin worth a hundredth of a leu, plural bani (1880).^(MWU 2024)^(AHD)^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}