forbidden

1. 1
   adjective

   Not allowed; specifically disallowed by a rule, law, or authority.

   Cameras are strictly forbidden during the performance.

   She stepped past the rope into the forbidden wing of the museum.

   Similarprohibited, proscribed, verboten

   Oppositeallowed, permitted, authorized

   Note

   A participle that settled into an adjective. It stands before a noun (a forbidden wing), follows be, and even takes degrees: more forbidden, most forbidden. Milton pairs it with scandalous in Samson Agonistes (1671). Its synonym verboten is the same word returned through German. The two are doublets, with Dutch verboden and Swedish förbjuden as further cousins.

2. 2
   verb

   Past participle of forbid.

   Smoking has been forbidden in all public buildings since the new law passed.

   The court had forbidden the company from selling the product.

   Note

   The form behind the perfect and the passive: has forbidden, was forbidden. Its simple-past partner has a different shape, forbade (also forbad), so 'had forbade' is a slip to avoid. Because forbid can take two objects, the passive keeps one of them: she was forbidden entry. When the word describes a standing state rather than an act of forbidding, it has become the adjective.

   He was forbidden entry to the club after the incident.

   The children were forbidden the garden until the paint dried.

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