Etymology

ban

B3A1N1

Today it means: To prohibit; to interdict; to proscribe; to forbid or block from participation. Full definition →

Middle English bannen ← Old English bannan ← Proto-West Germanic *bannan
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ban · verb, noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*bʰh₂-new-ti ~ bʰh₂-n̥w-énti
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*bannaną“to proclaim, to order; to summon; to ban; to curse, forbid”
  3. Old Norse · derived frombanna“to prohibit; to curse”
  4. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*bannan
  5. Old English · inherited frombannan“to summon, command, proclaim, call out”
  6. Middle English · inherited frombannen“to summon; to banish; to curse”
  7. English todayban

Inherited from Middle English bannen (“to summon; to banish; to curse”), partly from Old English bannan (“to summon, command, proclaim, call out”), from Proto-West Germanic *bannan; and partly from Old Norse banna (“to prohibit; to curse”), both from Proto-Germanic *bannaną (“to proclaim, to order; to summon; to ban; to curse, forbid”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰh₂-new-ti ~ bʰh₂-n̥w-énti, innovative nasal-infixed zero-grade athematic present of *bʰeh₂- (“to say”). Cognate with Dutch bannen (“to ban, exile, discard”), German bannen (“to exile, to exorcise, captivate, excommunicate”), Swedish banna (“to ban, scold”), Vedic Sanskrit भन॑ति (bhánati), Armenian բան (ban) and perhaps Albanian banoj (“to reside, dwell”). See also banal, abandon.

ban · noun2

  1. Serbo-Croatian · derived frombân
  2. Romanian · borrowed fromban
  3. English todayban

Borrowed from Romanian ban of uncertain origin, perhaps from Serbo-Croatian bân.

ban · noun3

From Banburismus; coined by Alan Turing.

ban · noun4

  1. South Slavic · derived from
  2. English todayban

From South Slavic (compare Serbo-Croatian bȃn), from Proto-Slavic *banъ; see there for more.

Ban · proper noun5

  1. av · derived fromбаян“rich man”
  2. English todayBan

* As a Hungarian surname, from Bán. * As a Hungarian and Serbo-Croatian surname, from bán (“governor”), probably related to Avar баян (bajan, “rich man”). * As a Slovene, reduced from Urban. * As a German surname, spelling variant of Bann. * As a Japanese surname, from 坂 (Ban). * As a Korean surname, spelling variant of Pan. * As a Chinese surname, from 班 (Bān).

Words from the same roots

Old Englishbannan all →

banish

Proto-Germanic*bannaną all →

abandonbanishbanal

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.