band and banned are homophones: they are pronounced identically and spelled differently, which is why they are so often swapped. band means “an unofficial association of people or groups”. banned means “forbidden by law”. band is the more common of the two in everyday English.
/ˈbænd/
1.n.an unofficial association of people or groups
“the smart set goes there”
2.n.instrumentalists not including string players
3.n.a stripe or stripes of contrasting color
“chromosomes exhibit characteristic bands”
/ˈbænd/
1.adj.forbidden by law
| band | banned | |
|---|---|---|
| Pronunciation | /ˈbænd/ | /ˈbænd/ |
| Said | band | band |
| Syllables | 1 | 1 |
| Letters | 4 | 6 |
| Parts of speech | noun, verb | adjective |
| Senses | 15 | 1 |
| How common | Core | Common |
| Synonyms | set, circle, lot | prohibited |
Full entry for band · Full entry for banned · More comparisons