▪ I. ban, v.
(bæn)
Forms: 1 banna-n, bonna-n, 3 banni-en, bonni-en, banni, 3–5 banne-n, -yn, 3–7 banne, 4–5 bann, (6 bawn), 4– ban. Inflexions: see below.
[OE. bannan, pa. tense béonn, pa. pple. bannen, to summon (also abannan and ᵹebannan to proclaim, summon) = OFris. banna, bonna (pa. tense bén, bante) to proclaim, command, OHG. bannan, MHG. and MDu. bannen, ON. banna (pa. tense bannaða) to prohibit, interdict, curse, Sw. banna to reprove, chide, bannas to curse, Da. bande to curse, execrate:—OTeut. *bannan ‘to proclaim under penalty, or with a threat,’ perhaps orig. merely ‘to proclaim, publicly announce’, f. root ba-, cogn. w. Gr. ϕα-, L. fa-, speak. In OE. (as in OHG., OS., and MHG.) a strong verb; but with weak pa. tense and pple. banned, already in Layamon. Sense 1 is from OE.; the other senses, first in north. dial., are probably from ON. Cf. ban n., which may also have re-acted on the verb.]
I. To summon. [from OE].
† 1. a. trans. To summon by proclamation. (Chiefly, in early use, to arms.) Obs.
| a 1000 Cynewulf Riddles ii. in Sweet Reader 180 Hw{iacu}lum ic to hilde hléoðre bonne wilᵹehléðan. 1048 O.E. Chron., Hét se cyning bannan {uacu}t here. 1205 Lay. 8054 Þe king lette blawen & bonnien [1250 banni] his ferden. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 3213 Pharaon bannede vt his here. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 5424 Aȝen ys broþer wende he faste..Wiþ oþre þat he gan banne. |
† b. To call forth, call for (things). Obs.
| 1205 Lay. 22288 Heo ruokeden burnen, bonneden helmes. Ibid. 27132 Summe bonneden wepnen. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 629, I shall..brynge a morsel of bred to banne your herte. |
II. To curse, anathematize, interdict. [from ON., ? and med.L. bannum.]
2. a. To curse, imprecate damnation upon. arch.
| a 1275 Prov. Alfred 441 in O.E. Misc. 129 He sal banne þat wiȝt þat him first taȝte. 1375 Barbour Bruce xv. 536 Quhen wiffis vald thar childir ban, Thai wald..Beteche thame to the blak dowglass. 1460 Pol. Rel. & L. Poems 180 And some men ban the, & some men blesse. a 1555 Latimer Serm. & Rem. (1845) 302 They will curse and ban..even into the deep pit of hell, all that gainsay their appetite. 1607 Heywood Fayre Mayde Wks. II. 72 Banne my starres. 1621 Quarles Div. Poems, Esther xvii, Another bannes the night his sonnes were borne. 1718 Motteux Quix. (1733) I. 165 Sancho..bann'd his Master to the bottomless Pit. 1827 Hood Hero & L. xxi, And bans his labour like a hopeless slave. 1868 Morris Jason ii. 110 Ever she blessed the old and banned the new. |
† b. with subord. clause. Obs.
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 1644, I may banne þat I was born. 1393 Gower Conf. II. 96, I curse and banne That ever slepe was made for eye. 1557 Tottell's Misc. (Arb.) 191 And now they banne that they were borne. |
3. intr. To curse, utter curses. arch.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 12050 To teche him..not to bann. 1583 Stubbes Anat. Abus. 72 Then fell she to sweare..and banne. 1609 Davies in Farr S.P. (1848) 183 Like a fiend, he banned with his breath. 1673 Shadwell Epsom Wells ii. Wks. 1720 II. 221 Ay, now you ban and curse, you wretch. 1762 Churchill Ghost ii. Poems I. 209 Then shall He ban at Heaven's decrees. 1820 Byron Morg. Mag. xxxv, Yet harsh and haughty, as he lay he bann'd. |
4. trans. and absol. To chide, address with angry and maledictory language. dial.
| 1340 Hampole Pr. Consc. 3485 When þou bannes any man, In wham þou fyndes na gilt to ban. c 1400 Destr. Troy xii. 4935 Neuer buerne will vs blame, ne ban for our dede. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades (1592) 132 Bitter speeches, wherewith we vse to curse and ban our neighbors. 1794 in Burns Wks. IV. 176 Even though she bans and scaulds a wee. 1816 Scott Antiq. xxvi, And scauld and ban wi' ilka wife that will scauld and ban wi' her. |
5. To pronounce an ecclesiastical curse upon, to anathematize. arch.
| 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 9176 Þe prest hem bannede. c 1400 Apol. Loll. 26 Þei..bannun him, or puttun him out of comyn, or haldun him cursid. 1470 Harding Chron. lxxxvii, The Church also may banne full sore those striues. 1483 Cath. Angl. 20 Banne, annathematizare. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles ii. xxviii, Bans all who aid thee in the strife. 1874 Holland Mistr. Manse ix. 155 As rose the priest With power to bless and right to ban. |
6. To interdict, proscribe, prohibit: a. a thing.
| 1816 Byron Prisoner of Chillon i, To whom the goodly earth and air Are bann'd and barr'd. 1832 Lytton Eug. Aram v. vii, The sublime and shaded mysteries that are banned mortality. 1865 Lecky Ration. (1878) II. 41 The religion of the immense majority..was banned and proscribed. |
b. a person.
| 1848 Kingsley Saint's Trag. iii. ii. 185 No foe Can ban us from that rest. 1863 W. W. Story Roba di Roma xv. 320 He banned them from the city. 1874 Blackie Self-Cult. 86 You may..ban yourself from voluntarily marching into it. |
7. ban the bomb: the slogan of those advocating nuclear disarmament, used (with hyphens) as attrib. phr.
| 1960 News Chron. 22 Apr. 6/3 The ban-the-bomb campaigners are well advanced with their arrangements to make a new challenge. |
▪ II. ban, n.1
(bæn)
Forms: 3– ban; 3–7 banne, 4–6 bane, 9 bann.
[Partly a. OF. ban, with influence of med.L. bannum; partly from ban v. Ultimately all these go back to the same source; F. ban ‘proclamation, publication, summons, proscription, outlawry, banishment, assemblage of military vassals’ was:—late L. bannum, ad. Teut. (OHG., MHG., OS., OFris., MDu.) bann, ban, n. ‘proclamation commanding or forbidding under threat or penalty,’ f. bann-an to ban. The simple n. bann does not appear in OE., which had however ᵹebann, rare ME. iban ‘proclamation, edict, f. the deriv. ᵹebannan. The ON. bann ‘excommunication, interdict, prohibition, curse,’ seems too late to have been the source of the Eng. But, as OE. had the vb. bannan, ban from OF. easily assumed the position of its vbl. n., and the two words, with the med.L. bannum, -us, in its various legal and ecclesiastical uses, subseq. re-acted upon each other, so that the development of sense is complicated.]
I. Authoritative proclamation, and attached senses, from Fr.
1. A public proclamation or edict; a summons by public proclamation. Chiefly, in early use, a summons to arms.
| 1297 R. Glouc. 188 Þer come to þys rounde table, as he sende ys ban, Aunsel kyng of Scotlond, and al so Vryan. c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1361 Baltazar þurȝ Babiloyn his banne gart crye. c 1350 Will. Palerne 2252 Þe bane is so maked. a 1400 in Eng. Gilds. 359 To w[h]eche selynge lat crye þe ban þorghe þe town. c 1450 Lonelich Grail lii. 761 That ȝe a bane dyde crye thorwh-owt ȝoure lond..Atte the brigge to iusten with a knyht. [1641 Termes de la Ley 37 b, Bans is common and ordinary amongst the Feudists, and signifies a proclamation, or any publike notice.] |
‖ 2. a. In feudal usage: The gathering of the (French) king's vassals for war; the whole body of vassals so assembled, or liable to be summoned; originally, the same as arrière-ban: in the 16th c., French usage created a distinction between ban and arrière-ban, for which see the latter word.
b. In recent use: In the French military system, the ban was the younger and more effective part of the population liable to serve in the militia or national guard, the arrière-ban the reserve, consisting of the older citizens; in the Prussian system, the first and second bans were the two divisions of the Landwehr.
| a. a 1250 Owl & Night. 390 Ich folȝi than aȝte manne, An flo bi niȝt in hore banne. 1591 Sir H. Unton Corr. (1847) 54 He hath sente abroad to assemble his van and arriere van. 1671 Crowne Juliana i. 8 The Ban and the Arrierban are met arm'd in the field to choose a king. 1683 Temple Mem. Wks. 1731 I. 392 France was at such a Pinch..that they call'd their Ban and Arriere Ban, the assembling whereof had been long disus'd, and in a manner antiquated. 1818 Hallam Mid. Ages ii. ii, The ban was sometimes convoked, that is, the possessors of the fiefs were called upon for military services. 1874 Boutell Arms & Arm. vii. 98 The act of calling together the vassals in armed array, was entitled ‘convoking the ban.’ |
| b. 1813 Examiner 18 Jan. 38/1 The 100 cohorts of the first Ban of the National Guards. 1866 Cornh. Mag. Nov. 555 The term of service [in Prussian Army] was fixed at twenty years, three of which were to be passed in the ranks of the regular army, two in the reserve, eight in the Land⁓wehr of the first ban, and seven in that of the second ban. |
‖ 3. Sentence of banishment; whence ‘to keep,’ or ‘break his ban.’ (A Gallicism.)
| 1873 Burton Hist. Scot. V. lviii. 236 Arran, hearing alarming rumours, broke his ban at Kinniel and hurried to Court. |
II. Proclamation of marriage: in this sense always in pl., now spelt banns, q.v.
III. Anathematization, curse.
4. A formal ecclesiastical denunciation; anathema, interdict, excommunication.
| 1481 Caxton Reynard (Arb.) 43, I stonde a cursed and am in the popes banne. 1638 Penit. Conf. vii. (1657) 115 The third Ban is upon those that affirm the Confession of all sins..to be impossible. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles ii. xxiv, A wretch, beneath the ban Of Pope and Church. 1860 R. Vaughan Mystics I. 164 Strasburg, and all the states which adhere to Louis, are placed under the bann. |
b. fig. or transf.
| 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. Wks. V. 45 All of whom this arch-pontiff of the ‘rights of men’ puts into the sweeping clause of ban and anathema. |
5. gen. A curse, having, or supposed to have, supernatural sanction, and baleful influence.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. iii. ii. 269 With Hecats Ban, thrice blasted, thrice infected. 1822 Byron Werner ii. i. 84 A prodigal son, beneath his father's ban. 1829 Scott Demonol. i. 41 The negro pines to death who is laid under the ban of an Obi woman. 1874 H. Reynolds John Bapt. iii. §4. 221 The land might be smitten by the ban which once fell upon the Canaanites. |
6. An imprecation of a curse, an execration or malediction expressing anger.
| 1596 Spenser F.Q. iii. vii. 39 With blasphemous bannes. 1605 Shakes. Lear ii. iii. 19 Sometimes with Lunaticke bans, sometime with Praiers. 1783–94 W. Blake Songs of Exp., London 7 In every ban, The mind-forged manacles I hear. 1879 Lowell Poet. Wks. 381/2 With many a ban the fisherman Had stumbled o'er and spurned it. |
IV. Denunciation, prohibition.
7. A formal and authoritative prohibition; a prohibitory command or edict, an interdict.
| 1667 Milton P.L. ix. 925 To taste it under banne to touch. 1845 R. Hamilton Pop. Educ. vi. 126 Bring back the age when Revelation was proscribed. Once more set the ban upon it. 1872 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 291 The teaching which put a ban on the flesh of the horse as the food of Christian men. Ibid. V. xxiv. 489 The ban against the tournament was fruitless. |
8. A proclamation issued against any one by the civil power; sentence of outlawry; esp. ‘Ban of the (Holy Roman) Empire.’
| a 1674 Clarendon Hist. Reb. I. i. (1702) 14 The Prince Electour..had..incurred the Ban of the Empire in an Imperial Dyet. 1708 Lond. Gaz. No. 4451/1 To Day the Duke of Mantua was put to the Ban of the Empire. 1810 Coleridge Friend (1865) 82 Charles V had pronounced the ban upon him [Luther] and limited his safe convoy to one and twenty days. 1827 Hallam Const. Hist. (1876) III. xviii. 403 The Presbyterians..were under the ban of the law. 1832 H. Martineau Ireland v. 80 Under ban for burning his late dwelling. |
9. fig. Practical denunciation, prohibition, or outlawry, not formally pronounced, as that of society or public opinion.
| 1839 Hallam Hist. Lit. IV. iv. ii. §21 Still under the ban of an orthodox clergy. 1859 Mill Liberty ii. 58 Opinions which are under the ban of society. 1863 Kemble Resid. Georgia 11 Free from the chain..of slavery; but they are not the less under a ban. 1869 J. Martineau Ess. II. 77 What are the objects upon which..the ban of morality is set? |
▪ III. ‖ ban, n.2
(bæn)
[Pers. bān lord, master, keeper; brought into Europe by the Avars who ruled in Slavonic countries subject to Hungary.]
The name given to the governor or viceroy of certain military districts in Hungary, Slavonia, and Croatia, who takes the command in time of war. Hence banate, bannat, the district under the jurisdiction of a ban, as the Hungarian Banate, the Banate of Croatia; banal a., of or pertaining to a ban; n. a Banate.
| 1614 Selden Titles Hon. 381 The Hungarian Bans..are Presidents or Gouernors of some Kingdomes belonging to that Kingdom, as Dalmatia, Croatia, Slauonia, Seruia and others. 1687 Lond. Gaz. No. 2224/3 The Ban of Croatia had..drawn together the Imperial Troops..to oppose their design. 1804 Campbell Turk. Lady, On Transylvania's Bannat When the Crescent shone afar. 1832 tr. Sismondi's Ital. Repub. xi. 255 The kingdom of Bosnia, and the bannat of Sclavonia. 1835 Penny Cycl. III. 359/2 The Banal Frontier was formed in the course of the year 1696. 1860 R. D. in Vac. Tour 107 Numerous dukes, princes, and bans..exercised sway in the country now called Servia. |
▪ IV. ‖ ban, n.3
(bɑ̃)
[Fr.]
(See quot. 1900.)
| 1900 Daily News 14 Aug. 8/2 On the falling of the curtain, however, when a ‘ban’ was called for, the ice was broken. The ‘ban’ is the characteristic ovation of the French student. 1906 Daily Chron. 20 Aug. 6/5 At the end it was ‘Vive’ everybody, and a perfect salvo of ‘triple bans’ was given. |