Etymology
1. O.E.
bannan "to summon by proclamation," a sense surviving only in
banns of marriage (1198; spelling with double
-n- attested from 1549), which also is partly from O.Fr.
ban "public proclamation," from Frank.
*ban, cognate of the O.E. word. Main modern sense of "prohibit" is from O.N.
banna "curse, prohibit," and probably in part from O.Fr.
ban, which also meant "outlawry, banishment." O.E., Frank. and O.N. words all are from P.Gmc.
*bannan "proclaim, command, forbid" (cf. O.H.G.
bannan "to command or forbit under threat of punishment," Ger.
bannen "banish, expel, curse"), from PIE base
*bha- "to speak" (cf. O.Ir.
bann "law," from the same root; see fame). Sense evolved from "speak" to "proclaim a threat" to "curse."
Banned in Boston dates from 1920s, in allusion to the excessive zeal and power of that city's Watch and Ward Society.
2. 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”).
3. Cognate with Dutch bannen (“to ban, exile, discard”), German bannen (“to exile, to exorcise, captivate, excommunicate”), Swedish banna (“to ban, scold”), Vedic Sanskrit भन॑ति (bhánati), Armenian բան (ban) and perhaps Albanian banoj (“to reside, dwell”). See also banal, abandon. See: Old English '
bannan', Proto-Germanic '
*bannaną', Dutch '
bannen', German, old spelling '
bannen', Swedish '
banna', Albanian '
banoj'.
Verbs referencing "ban"
English
abandon, Danish
bande, Finnish with old forms
bannata, Serbo-Croatian
banati, Finnish with old forms
bännätä.