prohibition
pronunciation
How to pronounce prohibition in British English:
UK [ ˌprəʊɪˈbɪʃn]
How to pronounce prohibition in American English:
US [ ˌproʊɪˈbɪʃn]
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- Noun:
- a law forbidding the sale of alcoholic beverages
- a decree that prohibits something
- the period from 1920 to 1933 when the sale of alcoholic beverages was prohibited in the United States by a constitutional amendment
- refusal to approve or assent to
- the action of prohibiting or inhibiting or forbidding (or an instance thereof)
Word Origin
- prohibition (n.)
- late 14c., "act of prohibiting, a forbidding by authority," from Anglo-French and Old French prohibition (early 13c.), from Latin prohibitionem (nominative prohibitio) "a hindering, forbidding; legal prohibition," noun of action from past participle stem of prohibere "hold back, restrain, hinder, prevent," from pro- "away, forth" (see pro-) + habere "to hold" (see habit (n.)). Meaning "forced alcohol abstinence" is 1851, American English; in effect nationwide in U.S. as law 1920-1933 under the Volstead Act. People whose youth did not coincide with the twenties never had our reverence for strong drink. Older men knew liquor before it became the symbol of a sacred cause. Kids who began drinking after 1933 take it as a matter of course. ... Drinking, we proved to ourselves our freedom as individuals and flouted Congress. We conformed to a popular type of dissent -- dissent from a minority. It was the only period during which a fellow could be smug and slopped concurrently. [A.J. Liebling, "Between Meals," 1959] Related: Prohibitionist.
Example
- 1. Prohibition has brought many short-term wins but no lasting ones .
- 2. Other countries are also pursuing prohibition of various sorts .
- 3. Franklin roosevelt repealed prohibition in 1933 amid the throes of a depression .
- 4. The prohibition was on wetting pants , not on wetting the bed .
- 5. Truthfulness is a state of mind rather than observance of prohibition of falsehood .