- ban
- {{11}}ban (n.1) "edict of prohibition," c.1300, "proclamation or edict of an overlord," from O.E. (ge)bann "proclamation, summons, command" and O.Fr. ban, both from Germanic; see BAN (Cf. ban) (v.).{{12}}ban (n.2) "governor of Croatia," from Serbo-Cr. ban "lord, master, ruler," from Pers. ban "prince, lord, chief, governor," related to Skt. pati "guards, protects." Hence banat "district governed by a ban," with Latinate suffix -atus. The Persian word got into Slavic perhaps via the Avars.{{12}}ban (v.) O.E. bannan "to summon, command, proclaim," from P.Gmc. *bannan "proclaim, command, forbid" (Cf. O.H.G. bannan "to command or forbid under threat of punishment," Ger. bannen "banish, expel, curse"), originally "to speak publicly," from PIE root *bha- (2) "to speak" (Cf. O.Ir. bann "law," Armenian ban "word;" see FAME (Cf. fame)). Main modern sense of "to prohibit" (late 14c.) is from O.N. cognate banna "to curse, prohibit," and probably in part from O.Fr. ban, which meant "outlawry, banishment," among other things (see BANAL (Cf. 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: Cf. BANISH (Cf. banish), BANDIT (Cf. bandit), CONTRABAND (Cf. 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.
Etymology dictionary. 2014.
