BAN

Pers. title, meaning ‘lord’ or ‘master,’ brought into Europe by the Avars; later it meant ‘to proclaim,’ ‘to announce’; in Fr. it is the name of the section of the population first liable for military service, while arriere-ban means the reserve; by Shakespeare, Milton, and other Eng. writers it is used in the sense of ‘to forbid’; it retains its earlier meaning of ‘to proclaim’ in ‘banns of marriage.’ 105° 21’ E.); cap. of Banam prov. Pop. c. 20,000.