different between forbid vs debar

English

Etymology

From Middle English forbeden, from Old English forb?odan (“to forbid, prohibit, restrain, refuse, repeal, annul”), from Proto-Germanic *furibeudan?, from *furi + *beudan?. Equivalent to for- (“from, away”) +? bid (“to offer, proclaim”). Cognate with Dutch verbieden (“to forbid”), German verbieten (“to forbid”), Danish forbyde (“to forbid”),Norwegian Bokmål forby (“to forbid”), Swedish förbjuda (“to forbid”), Gothic ???????????????????????????????????????? (faurbiudan). Related to forbode.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /f??b?d/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /f??b?d/
• Rhymes: -?d

Verb

forbid (third-person singular simple present forbids, present participle forbidding, simple past forbid or forbade or forbad, past participle forbidden)

1. (transitive) To disallow; to proscribe.
   • 1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows

     […] the Mole recollected that animal-etiquette forbade any sort of comment on the sudden disappearance of one's friends at any moment, for any reason or no reason whatever.

2. (ditransitive) To deny, exclude from, or warn off, by express command.
3. (transitive) To oppose, hinder, or prevent, as if by an effectual command.

   • a blaze of glory that forbids the sight

4. (transitive, obsolete) To accurse; to blast.
5. (transitive, obsolete) To defy; to challenge.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of L. Andrews to this entry?)

Usage notes

• Especially when talking about a person, the expression is not allowed to is much more common than the very formal is forbidden to/is forbidden from.
• This is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive or the gerund (-ing) when the person is mentioned from whom something is forbidden, and it takes the gerund (-ing) when such a person is not mentioned. See Appendix:English catenative verbs. Examples:
  • The management forbids employees from smoking/to smoke in the office. (Active; those subject to prohibition are identified)
  • Employees are forbidden from smoking/to smoke in the office. (Passive; those subject to prohibition are identified)
  • The management forbids smoking in the office. (Active; those subject to prohibition are not identified)
  • Smoking in the office is forbidden. (Passive; those subject to prohibition are not identified)

Synonyms

• prohibit
• disallow
• ban
• veto
• See also Thesaurus:prohibit

Derived terms

• forbiddance
• forbidding

Translations

References

• forbid in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• forbid in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

English

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman debarrer

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /d??b??(?)/

Verb

debar (third-person singular simple present debars, present participle debarring, simple past and past participle debarred)

1. (transitive) To exclude or shut out; to bar.

   • As for the guides, they were debarred from the pleasure of discourse, the one being placed in the van, and the other obliged to bring up the rear.
2. (transitive) to hinder or prevent.
   • 1609, William Shakespeare, Sonnet 28:

     How can I then return in happy plight,

     That am debarr'd the benefit of rest?

3. (US, law, transitive) To prohibit (a person or company that has been convicted of criminal acts in connection with a government program) from future participation in that program.

Usage notes

• Sense 2 is not to be confused with disbar.

Derived terms

• debarment

Translations

Anagrams

• Bader, Beard, Breda, Debra, arbed, ardeb, bared, beard, bread

Ido

Etymology

Same as devar.

Verb

debar (present tense debas, past tense debis, future tense debos, imperative debez, conditional debus)

1. to owe (something to someone), be under obligation (to someone, for something)

Conjugation

Paronyms

• devar (“should”)