noun

1. Prohibition.

2. A public proclamation or edict; a summons by public proclamation. Chiefly, in early use, a summons to arms.

   “Bans is common and ordinary amongst the Feudists, and signifies a proclamation, or any public notice.”

3. The gathering of the (French) king's vassals for war; the whole body of vassals so assembled, or liable to be summoned; originally, the same as arrière-ban: in the 16th c., French usage created a distinction between ban and arrière-ban, for which see the latter word.

   “France was at such a Pinch..that they call'd their Ban and Arriere Ban, the assembling whereof had been long discussed, and in a manner antiquated.”

verb

1. To summon; to call out.

2. To anathematize; to pronounce an ecclesiastical curse upon; to place under a ban.

3. To curse; to execrate.

Synonyms: disallow, forbid, prohibit