banish

verb

ban·​ish ˈba-nish How to pronounce banish (audio)
banished; banishing; banishes
Synonyms of banishnext

transitive verb

1
: to require by authority to leave a country
a dictator who banishes anyone who opposes him
2
: to drive out or remove from a home or place of usual resort or continuance
He was banished from court.
banishing her from the sport
The reporters were banished to another room.
3
: to clear away : dispel
his discovery banishes anxiety— Stringfellow Barr
banisher noun
banishment
ˈba-nish-mənt How to pronounce banish (audio)
noun

Synonyms

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banish, exile, deport, transport mean to remove by authority from a state or country.

banish implies compulsory removal from a country not necessarily one's own.

banished for seditious activities

exile may imply compulsory removal or an enforced or voluntary absence from one's own country.

a writer who exiled himself for political reasons

deport implies sending out of the country an alien who has illegally entered or whose presence is judged inimical to the public welfare.

illegal aliens will be deported

transport implies sending a convicted criminal to an overseas penal colony.

a convict who was transported to Australia

Examples of banish in a Sentence

He was banished for life. The dictator banished anyone who opposed him.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
For many parts of the U.S., banishing cars simply isn’t realistic in the absence of comprehensive public transportation and high-density redesigns that often lack political or taxpayer backing. — Megha Satyanarayana, Scientific American, 21 Mar. 2025 Patrick, born Roman, raised Welsh, and famously credited with banishing snakes from Ireland (a reptilian issue geology had resolved millennia before) dominates the global imagination. — Gemma Allen, Forbes, 16 Mar. 2025 Cocktails are designed to be part of the show, like a Samurai Old Fashioned banished with flaming cinnamon. — Anna Spiegel, Axios, 14 Mar. 2025 The Faithful contestants left once all the Traitors are banished split the prize money. — Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY, 12 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for banish

Word History

Etymology

Middle English banysshen "to condemn by proclamation to leave a country, exile, outlaw, expel, drive away," borrowed from Anglo-French baniss-, stem of banir "to proclaim, (of a king or noble) summon by a call to arms, condemn by proclamation to leave a country, exclude" (also continental Old French), going back to a Gallo-Romance adaptation of Old Low Franconian *bannjan, verbal derivative of *banna- "summon to arms by a lord" — more at ban entry 2

Note: Compare Medieval Latin bannīre, bandīre "to summon by public authority and compel performance of something" (this sense is already in the seventh-century Lex Ripuaria, the laws of the Ripuarian Franks), "to require by public authority, place under a prohibition, excommunicate." Compare also bandit.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of banish was in the 14th century

Rhymes for banish

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banish
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Cite this Entry

“Banish.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/banish. Accessed 24 Mar. 2025.

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Kids Definition

banish

verb
ban·​ish ˈban-ish How to pronounce banish (audio)
1
: to force to leave a country
2
: to drive away
banish fears
banishment
-mənt How to pronounce banish (audio)
noun

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