ban

\bɑ̃\

/\bɑ̃\/ noun

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

The verdict

“ban” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #6,466) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#6,466
frequency rank, French
4,251
“B” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Proclamation pour ordonner ou défendre quelque chose.

Corpus desk

Index FR-ban · ban · French

ban · rank #6,466 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #6,466
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,251
  • PHOTO-FINISH balade

Nearest frequency peer: balade (-1 rank slots)

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 neighbourhood for “ban”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “ban” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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

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

Key facts for ban
PropertyValue
Headwordban
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\bɑ̃\
Letters3
Frequency rank#6,466
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Où “ban” se place dans la fréquence du français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.banse place ici:

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

L'axe est logarithmique: chaque tic marque environ dix fois moins de fréquence. Dans la même bande de rareté figurent « balade » (#6,465), « bars » (#6,467), « arracher » (#6,464). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for ban is neighbouring look-alikes ("by", "be", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced \bɑ̃\. Frequency #6,466 among 4,251 “B” headwords. 6 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for ban, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "by", "be", "BD", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is ban, spelled B-A-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    Proclamation pour ordonner ou défendre quelque chose.
  2. 2
    Publication par voie d’affiches à la porte de la mairie, ou d’un lieu de culte, d’une promesse de mariage entre deux personnes.
  3. 3
    Convocation par le suzerain des nobles pour le servir à la guerre, soit eux-mêmes en personne, soit par un certain nombre de gens armés, proportionnellement au revenu et à la qualité de chaque fief.
  4. 4
    Le corps même de la noblesse qui pouvait être ainsi convoqué.
  5. 5
    Exil imposé à quelqu’un par proclamation.
  6. 6
    Territoire communal.

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. Et attendu, en fait, que Duval-Laignier est poursuivi pour avoir enfreint l'usage du ban de vendanges qui n'aurait pas cessé d'être en vigueur dans la commune de Condé-les-Herpy, antérieurement à 1791 , comme depuis cette époque; […].
  2. Le général fit publier un ban pour défendre aux soldats de s’éloigner du camp.

This word in other languages

ban(English)amonestación(Español)

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 French 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 \bɑ̃\.
What does "ban" mean?
As a noun, "ban" means: Proclamation pour ordonner ou défendre quelque chose.
What words are commonly confused with "ban"?
"ban" is commonly confused with "by", "be", "BD". 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 \bɑ̃\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ban" come from?
"ban" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 French words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

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

Heu#6,511psy#6,544ras#6,546bye#6,376

What to do next

You've looked up "ban". Here's where to go from here.

  • "ban" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "by". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #6,466 among French headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more French words in the "B" letter cohort. B–Z browse

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list