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Glite Dictionary
banns

banns

1 9.9
An announcement in church before a wedding asking if anyone objects
  • noun
  • /bænz/
  • Formal
: anuncios matrimoniales
  • They decided to forgo the traditional reading of the banns and have a civil ceremony instead.

Examples

  • The church announced the banns of marriage last Sunday.

  • It is still customary in some countries to publish the banns before a marriage can take place.

  • The banns were read aloud in church three Sundays before the wedding.

  • Did you hear the banns for Sarah and Tom?

  • The church announced the banns of their upcoming wedding for all to hear.

  • During the Sunday service, the priest read out the banns for the couple's marriage.

  • Before they could get married, they had to have their banns publicly declared.

Surface Forms

banns singular
banns plural

Morphology

banns = ban (opaque) = bann + s

Although spelled as 'ban' + plural '-s', the modern meaning 'announcement of intended marriage' diverges from the common sense of 'ban' (=prohibition), so knowledge of 'ban' will not reliably let learners infer this sense.

Etymology

The word banns comes from an old word ban meaning 'a public order' or 'proclamation' used to call people together. That's why banns are the church announcements that publicly 'announce' a planned marriage so anyone who knows a legal reason against it can speak up.