ban

/bæn/

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.”
4
A curse or anathema.
5
A pecuniary mulct or penalty laid upon a delinquent for offending against a ban, such as a mulct paid to a bishop by one guilty of sacrilege or other crimes.

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.
4
To prohibit; to interdict; to proscribe; to forbid or block from participation.
“Bare feet are banned in this establishment.”
5
To curse; to utter curses or maledictions.

1
A unit measuring information or entropy based on base-ten logarithms, rather than the base-two logarithms that define the bit.

1
A title used in several states in central and south-eastern Europe between the 7th century and the 20th century.

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