Other forms: forbidden, forbade, forbidding, forbids
To forbid is to order that something must not be done. Forbid smoking, her parents forbade it, strictly forbidden.
The past tense is forbade — traditionally rhyming with bad — and the participle is forbidden. Forbidden is much the commonest form: forbidden fruit, strictly forbidden. The pattern is forbid somebody to do something or forbid something. Note God forbid, an exclamation hoping something will not happen; and that ban and prohibit are the everyday and legal equivalents, with forbid sounding personal and slightly old-fashioned.
1verbforbidTo order that something must not be done.
“The rules forbid anybody from parking there.”
forbid is a way of prohibiting.
Also accepted in games: prohibit, ban
Old English forbeodan is for-, meaning against or away, plus beodan, to command — to command against. The same for- prefix of negation survives in forget, forgive and forsake, none of which now feel like negatives at all.
Proto-Indo-European
*bʰewdʰ-
Proto-Germanic
*furibeudaną
Old English
forbēodan — to forbid, prohibit, restrain, refuse, repeal, annul
Middle English
forbeden
English, today
forbid
From Middle English forbeden, from Old English forbēodan (“to forbid, prohibit, restrain, refuse, repeal, annul”), from Proto-Germanic furibeudaną, from furi + beudaną. Equivalent to for + bid. Cognate with Dutch verbieden (“to forbid”), German verbieten (“to forbid”), Danish forbyde (“to forbid”), Norwegian Bokmål forby (“to forbid”), Swedish förbjuda (“to forbid”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌱𐌹𐌿𐌳𐌰𐌽. Related to forbode.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA