Antonyms for ban

Grammar : Noun, verb

Spell : ban

Phonetic Transcription : bæn

Definition of ban

Origin : Old English bannan "to summon, command, proclaim," from Proto-Germanic *bannan "proclaim, command, forbid" (cf. Old High German bannan "to command or forbid under threat of punishment," German bannen "banish, expel, curse"), originally "to speak publicly," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak" (cf. Old Irish bann "law," Armenian ban "word;" see fame (n.)).
Main modern sense of "to prohibit" (late 14c.) is from Old Norse cognate banna "to curse, prohibit," and probably in part from Old French ban, which meant "outlawry, banishment," among other things (see banal) and was a borrowing from Germanic. The sense evolution in Germanic was from "speak" to "proclaim a threat" to (in Norse, German, etc.) "curse."
The Germanic root, borrowed in Latin and French, has been productive, e.g. banish, bandit, contraband, etc. Related: Banned; banning. Banned in Boston dates from 1920s, in allusion to the excessive zeal and power of that city's Watch and Ward Society.

noun official forbiddance
verb officially forbid

Example sentences :

He has placed your city of Coimbra under a ban of excommunication.
Extract from : « The Historical Nights Entertainment, Second Series » by Rafael Sabatini

How could he exist with the knowledge that he was under the ban of the gods?
Extract from : « The Cat of Bubastes » by G. A. Henty

Helena de' Franchi gave the news of the ban to Giuseppe de' Franchi.
Extract from : « Dreamers of the Ghetto » by I. Zangwill

Then, bleeding, he sat on the ground, and heard the ban solemnly removed.
Extract from : « Dreamers of the Ghetto » by I. Zangwill

But the Rabbis shook their heads and laid the ban upon him and his disciples.
Extract from : « Dreamers of the Ghetto » by I. Zangwill

The interesting invalid has lifted the ban, which was crushing one of us, at least.
Extract from : « Nell, of Shorne Mills » by Charles Garvice

The contemner of the ban of Sinai fell "stricken through" the body.
Extract from : « Messages from the Epistle to the Hebrews » by Handley C.G. Moule

She must have no terms with it; if she would be true to her Master, she must ban and anathematize it.
Extract from : « Apologia Pro Vita Sua » by John Henry Cardinal Newman

The ban of secrecy had made it, doubtless, an object of suspicion.
Extract from : « Mysticism and its Results » by John Delafield

Nature creates her own ranks, and puts her ban upon misalliances.
Extract from : « All Roads Lead to Calvary » by Jerome K. Jerome

Synonyms for ban

Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019