prohibit
/pɹoʊˈhɪbɪt/verb
prohibit is spelled P-R-O-H-I-B-I-T: 8 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,731st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, prohibit means “To forbid, disallow, or proscribe officially; to make illegal or illicit” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in prohibit?
| Letters | 8: P-R-O-H-I-B-I-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.2 times per million words; the 14,731st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is prohibit?
Prohibit appears 3.2 times per million words in written English, the 14,731st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce prohibit?
- UK /pɹəˈhɪbɪt/
- UK /pɹəʊˈhɪbɪt/
- US /pɹoʊˈhɪbɪt/
Prohibit has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-prohibit.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with prohibit?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as prohibit from its last stressed vowel (/ɪbɪt/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of prohibit
- prohibits present, singular, he/she/it
- prohibiting participle, present
- prohibited participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does prohibit mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To forbid, disallow, or proscribe officially; to make illegal or illicit.
The restaurant prohibits smoking on the patio.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Prohibit in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense to proscribe officially:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does prohibit come from?
From Middle English prohibiten, from Latin prohibeō (“to fend off, prevent, prohibit”) (through past participle prohibitus).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).