banns

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a public announcement, traditionally made in church, of an intended marriage

   The banns were read on three Sundays before the wedding.

From Middle English banes or banns, the plural of ban, 'an authoritative proclamation.' Ban came partly through Anglo-French from a Germanic word for a formal command or summons. The marriage term remains plural in ordinary use.

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External links

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