# ban

> English word · Verb · IPA /ˈbæn/ · frequency rank #2,715

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

## 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.

## Easily confused with
- **be** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-be)
- **by** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-by)
- **BC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bc)
- **bi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bi)
- **BS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bs)
- **bo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bo)
- **br** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-br)
- **Bt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bt)
- **BB** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bb)
- **BP** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bp)
- **bf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bf)
- **bd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bd)
- **BL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bl)
- **BM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bm)
- **bn** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bn)
- **BG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bg)
- **BJ** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bj)
- **BW** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bw)
- **BH** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bh)
- **BX** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/ban-vs-bx)

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/ban