banishment

American  

[ban-ish-muhnt] / ˈbæn ɪʃ mənt /

noun

1. expulsion from a country, place, or position by authoritative decree, or the state of having been expelled.

   A royal proclamation ordered the banishment of all priests from the city.

   The team’s wide receiver flunked another drug test and will now be subject to a one-year banishment, according to league sources.

2. the act of driving away, or the state of having been sent away or driven out.

   We strive for the preservation of peace and the banishment of tyranny and slavery from the earth.

   The decades after World War II were marked not by disarmament and the banishment of war but by ceaseless confrontation and the division of the world into hostile blocs.

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Other Word Forms

• nonbanishment noun
• probanishment noun
• self-banishment noun

Etymology

Origin of banishment

banish ( def. ) + -ment ( def. )

Example Sentences

The opprobrium that ensued in the course of a shamelessly one-sided trial shredded their reputations, cost them their jobs and led to an incurable banishment from public life.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 27, 2026

Let’s say you were ordered deported and you now faced banishment from your country.

From Slate • Feb. 17, 2026

While he hurls baseless accusations and complaints in that episode, Funches presents a compelling case against another player, Atlanta Housewife Porsha Williams, at a banishment debate.

From Salon • Jan. 15, 2026

That means the banishment will be left “to the hands of fate,” Winkleman said.

From BBC • Oct. 22, 2025

“Perhaps my wife won’t like London; then the sentence is banishment & degradation into indolent, idle fool.”

From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman

Related Words

• deportation
• expulsion