Other forms: banished, banishes, banishing
To banish is to send somebody away and forbid their return. Banish him from the court, banished for life, banish the thought.
It was a real legal penalty for centuries and in some societies worse than death, since a person outside their community had no protection at all. The figurative use is light — banish the thought means put it out of your mind.
1verbbanishTo send somebody away and forbid their return.
“The king banished his brother from the kingdom for life.”
banish is a sending away.
Old French banir means to proclaim or outlaw, from a Germanic root meaning to proclaim. Ban and abandon are relatives.
Proto-Indo-European
*bʰeh₂-
Proto-Germanic
*bannaną — curse, forbid
Old English
bannan
Old French
baniss-
Middle English
banishen
English, today
banish
Built from
From Middle English banishen, from Old French baniss-, extended stem of banir (“to proclaim, ban, banish”), of Germanic origin and Old English bannan, from Proto-Germanic bannaną (“curse, forbid”). Compare French bannir. a doublet of ban.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA