forban

French

Etymology

From Middle French fourban, from Old French forsban, forban (“pirate, privateer, banishment”), deverbal of Old French forbannir (“to banish, exile”), from Frankish *furbannjan, *firbannjan (“to ban, banish”), from Proto-Germanic *fra- + Proto-Germanic *bannijanan (“to request, damn, curse”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhā- (“to say, pronounce”). Cognate with Dutch verbannen (“to outcast, banish, exile”), German verbannen (“to banish, exile”), Norwegian forbanne (“to curse”). More at for-, ban.

Noun

forban m (plural forbans)

1. (archaic) pirate
2. rogue, scoundrel; an unscrupulous individual capable of any wrongdoing

Synonyms

• bandit
• corsaire
• crapule
• flibustier
• gredin
• pirate