ban

/ˈbæn/

//ˈbæn// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"ban" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ban” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #2,715) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#2,715
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To prohibit; to interdict; to proscribe; to forbid or block from participation.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ban · ban · English

ban · rank #2,715 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,715
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH attend

Nearest frequency peer: attend (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “ban”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “ban” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

ban vs be
33% similar
ban vs by
33% similar
ban vs BC
0% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for ban
PropertyValue
Headwordban
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈbæn/
Letters3
Frequency rank#2,715
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “ban”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).banlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “attend” (#2,714), “brilliant” (#2,716), “arrest” (#2,713). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “ban” is #2,715. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for ban is neighbouring look-alikes ("be", "by", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /ˈbæn/. Frequency #2,715 among 4,121 “B” headwords. 5 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

No misspelling variants are generated for ban in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "be", "by", "BC", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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-… The correct English form is ban, spelled B-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    To prohibit; to interdict; to proscribe; to forbid or block from participation.
  2. 2
    To summon; to call out.
  3. 3
    To anathematize; to pronounce an ecclesiastical curse upon; to place under a ban.
  4. 4
    To curse; to execrate.
  5. 5
    To curse; to utter curses or maledictions.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how ban appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Bare feet are banned in this establishment.
  2. To whom the goodly earth and air Are banned

Etymology

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 भनति (bhánati), Armenian բան (ban) and perhaps Albanian banoj (“to reside, dwell”). See also banal, abandon.

This word in other languages

vedar(Español)interdire(Français)verbieten(Deutsch)proibir(Português)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "ban"?
"ban" is spelled B-A-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbæn/.
What does "ban" mean?
As a verb, "ban" means: To prohibit; to interdict; to proscribe; to forbid or block from participation.
What words are commonly confused with "ban"?
"ban" is commonly confused with "be", "by", "BC". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ban"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ban" is /ˈbæn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "ban"?
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 f... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ban", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

4th#2,710joy#2,738tip#2,767NFL#2,802

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list