banner-stone 
are supposed to have been worn as ornaments 
in prehistoric times, or held in the hand as 
badges of authority. They have an eye for 
the insertion of a handle. 
Some banner-stones of striped slate have been found in 
Camillus, and one on Skaneateles Lake [New York]. 
Smithsonian Rep., 1881, p. 657. 
banner-vane (ban'er-van), n. A weather-vane 
having the shape of a banner, balanced by a 
weight on the other side of the staff. 
bannet (ban'et), . [Sc., = E. bonnet.'] A bon- 
net. Scott. 
bannimust, n. [< ML. bannimus, we banish, 
1st pers. pi. pres. ind. of bannire, banish: see 
banish.] Same as bannition. 
banning (ban'ing), . [Verbal n. of ban 1 , v.] 
The act of uttering a ban or curse ; an execra- 
tion or cursing of another. 
Especially when the names of the infernal fiends or un- 
lucky soules are used in such banning*. 
Holland, tr. of Pliny, xxvii. 2. 
bannition f (ba-nish'on), n. [< ML. bannitio(n-), 
< bannire, banish: see banish, and cf. abtm- 
nition.] The act of banishing or the state of 
being banished; expulsion, especially from a 
university. 
You will take order, when he comes out of the castle, 
to send him out of the university too by bannition. 
Abp. Laud, Remains, II. Ifll. 
bannock (ban'ok), . [Sc., < ME. bannok, < AS. 
bannuc, < Gael, bannach, also bonnack, = Ir. boin- 
neog, a cake.] A thick cake made of oatmeal, 
barley-meal, or pease-meal, baked on the embers 
or on an iron plate or griddle over the fire. 
Bannoks is better nor na kin bread. 
Bay's Scottish Proverbs (1678), p. 364. 
bannock-fluke (ban'ok-flok), n. [Sc., < ban- 
nock + fluket.] A Scotch name of the com- 
mon turbot. 
banns (banz), n. pi. [Formerly bannes, often 
banes, mod. more correctly bans, pi. of ban 1 , 
q. v. The spelling banns is now usual in this 
sense.] 1. The proclamation of intended mar- 
riage in order that those who know of any im- 
pediment thereto may state it to the proper 
authorities. Banns were made a part of ecclesiastical 
legislation by the fourth Council of the Lateran, A. D. 
1215, whose decrees were confirmed by the Council of 
Trent. In the Komau Catholic Church the celebration of 
marriage without previous proclamation of the banns, 
unless by special dispensation, is gravely illicit, but not 
invalid. The proclamation is made by the parish priest 
of each contracting party, on three consecutive festivals 
during public mass. The proclamation of banns is no 
longer required in order to a valid civil marriage in Eng- 
land, Scotland, or the United States. 
2f. The proclamation or prologue of a play. 
Banes or Prologue [to] the Fall of Lucifer. 
York Plays, Int., p. Ixii. 
To bid or ask the bannsl, to publish the banns. 
If all parties be pleased, ask their banns, 'tis a match. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., p. 561. 
To forbid the banns, to make formal objection to an 
intended marriage. 
A better fate did Maria deserve than to have her bantu 
forbid. Sterne, Tristram Shandy, ix. 24. 
bannut (ban'ut), n. [E. dial., also written ban- 
net, < late ME. bannenote (in comp. bannenote- 
tre, glossed avetana, filbert); < "ban, *banne 
(origin unknown) + nut.'] A walnut, the fruit 
of Juglans regia (bannut-tree). [Obsolete or 
dialectal.] 
banquet (bang'kwet), n. [Earlier banket, < F. 
banquet (= It. banchetto = Sp. banquete), a 
feast, orig. a little bench or table, dim. of bane 
(= It. Sp. banco), a bench or table : see bank! 
444 
Justin time to bain/u.i 
The illustrious company assembled there. fV< ///</.. 
II. intrans. 1. To feast; regale one's self 
with good eating and drinking ; fare daintily. 
The mind shall banqiu'1, though the body pine. 
Shak., L. L. L., i. 1. 
Were it a draught for Juno when she banquets, 
I would not taste thy treasonous offer. 
Milton, Comus, 1. 701. 
2f. To take part in a light refection after a 
feast. See banquet, n., 2. 
Then was the banquetiug-chamber in the tilt-yard at 
Greenwich furnished for the entertainment of these 
strangers, where they did both sup and banquet. 
G. Cavendish. 
banquetantt (bang'kwet-ant), n. [< F. ban- 
quetant, ppr. of banqueter : see banquet, v.] 
One who banquets; a banqueter. 
Are there not beside 
Other great banquetants? 
Chapman, Odyssey, xx. 
banqueter (bang'kwet-er), n. 1. A guest at 
a banquet ; a f easter. 
Great banqueters do seldom great exploits. Cotgrave. 
2f. One who provides feasts or rich entertain- 
ments. 
banquet-hall (bang'kwet-hal), n. A hall in 
which banquets are held. Also called banquet- 
t 
falr Pelela " 
Tennyson, (Enone. 
banquet-house (bang'kwet-hous), . A ban- 
queting-house. 
A banquet-house salutes the southern sky. Dryden. 
banqueting (bang'kwet-ing), n. The act of 
feasting; luxurious living; rich entertainment; 
a feast. 
Excess of wine, revellings, banquetings. 1 Pet. iv. 3. 
banqueting-hall (bang'kwet-ing-hal), n. Same 
as banquet-hall. 
banqueting-house (bang'kwet-ing-hous), n. A 
house where banquets are given. 
In a banqueting-house, among certain pleasant trees, the 
table was set. Sidney. 
banquette (bong-kef), n. [F., fern. dim. of 
bane, a bench: see 6afc 2 , and cf. banquet.] 1. 
(a) In fort., a raised way or foot-bank, run- 
ning along the inside of a parapet breast-high 
above it, on which riflemen stand to fire upon 
the enemy. (6) In medieval fort., an advanced 
earthwork or palisaded defense outside of the 
ditch. The space between the ditch and the parapet 
was wide enough for a line of soldiers, but too narrow to 
allow of its being fortified if occupied by the besiegers. 
Formerly sometimes written banquet, as English. 
2. The footway of a bridge when raised above 
the carriageway. 3. A bench for passengers, 
or the space occupied by benches, on the top 
of a French diligence, and hence of any public 
vehicle. 4. A sidewalk. [Common in the 
southern and southwestern United States.] 
Standing outside on the banquette, he bowed not to Dr. 
Mossy, but to the balcony of the big red-brick front. 
G. W. Cable, Old Creole Days, p. 144. 
Banquette slope, in fort., an incline connecting the 
banquette tread with the terreplein or interior of the 
work. Banquette tread, the level surface of the ban- 
quette on which the soldiers stand while firing over the 
crest of the parapet ; the tread. 
bans, n. pi. See banns. 
banshee (ban'she), . [< Gael, ban-sith, Ir. bean- 
sidhe, lit. woman of the fairies, < Gael, ban, 
Ir. bean, woman, + sith, Ir. sigh, sighe, sighidh 
(the final consonant being scarcely sounded), 
Bantu 
tive size. Many of these varieties are the exact counter- 
parts, except in size, of the corresponding breeds of full 
size, and were originally reduced in weight by careful 
selection and breeding of small specimens from these 
full-sized breeds. There are other varieties, however, as 
the Japanese and the Sebright bantams, which do not re- 
semble any of the large breeds. The chief varieties are 
the African, game (in the several colors), Japanese, Pekin, 
Polish, and Sebright bantams. 
2. Same as Bantam-work. 
II. a. Pertaining to or resembling the ban- 
tam; of the breed of the bantam; hence, dimin- 
utive ; puny ; absurdly combative, or fussy and 
consequential. 
Bantam-work (ban'tam-werk), n. An old name 
for carved work, painted in party-colors, im- 
ported from the East Indies ; " a kind of Indian 
painting and carving on wood, resembling Ja- 
pan-work, only more gay," Chambers's Cyc., 
Supp., 1753. 
banteng (ban'teng), n. [Native name; alsospell- 
ed banting."] A species of ox, Bos banteng or H. 
sondaicus, a local race in the Malay archipelago. 
banter (ban'ter), v. t. [First in the latter part 
of the 17th century; regarded then as slang.] 
1 . To address good-humored raillery to ; attack 
with jokes or jests ; make fun of ; rally. 
The magistrate took it that he bantered him, and bade 
an officer take him into custody. Sir H. L' Estrange. 
Not succeeding in bantering me out of my epistolary 
proprieties. Blackwood's Mag., XXIII. 384. 
So home we went, and all the livelong way 
With solemn jibe did Eustace banter me. 
Tennyson, Gardener's Daughter. 
2. To impose upon or cheat, originally in a jest- 
ing or bantering way ; bamboozle. [Archaic.] 
Somebody had been bantenng him with an imposition. 
Scott, Guy Mannering, li. 
3. To challenge; invite to a contest. [South- 
ern and western U. S.]=Syn. Banter, Rally, quiz, 
tease, joke. We banter another in good humor chiefly for 
something he or she has done or neglected to do, whether 
the act or omission be faulty or ridiculous or not, if it 
only affords a subject for a laugh or smile at his or her 
expense, or causes a blush not altogether painful. Sally, 
literally to rail, generally implies some degree of sarcasm 
or pungency, and is aimed at some specific fault, offense, 
or weakness. 
The sort of mock-heroic gigantesque 
With which we banter'd little Lilia first. 
Tennyson, Princess, Conclusion. 
Lest you think I rally more than teach, 
Or praise malignly arts I cannot reach. 
Pope, Imit. of Horace, i. 2. 
banter (ban'tfer), . [< banter, v.~] 1. A joking 
or jesting; good-humored ridicule or raillery; 
wit or humor ; pleasantry. 
When wit has any mixture of raillery, it is but calling 
it banter and the work is done. 
Swift, Tale of a Tub, Author's Apol. 
Mr. Adams made his contribution to the service of the 
table in the form of that good-humored, easy banter 
which makes a dinner of herbs more digestible than a 
stalled ox without it. 
Josiah Quincy, Figures of the Past, p. 62. 
2. A challenge to a match or contest ; the 
match or contest itself. [Southern, and west- 
ern U. S.] 
banterer (ban'ter-er), n. 1. One who banters 
or assails with good-humored jests or pleas- 
antry. 2. One who cheats or bamboozles. 
[Archaic.] 
His dress, his gait, his accent, . . . marked him out as 
an excellent subject for the operations of swindlers and 
banterers. ilacaulay, Hist. Eng., iii. 
(ban'ter-i), a. Full of banter or good- 
A napkin of fine linen to be laid on the table at the 
coronation banquet. Macaulay, Hist. Eug., xxiii. 
2f. A light entertainment at the end of a feast ; Also beiishie, benshi. 
a dessert ; a refection at which wine is drunk. 
We'll dine in the great room ; but let the music 
And banquet be prepared here. 
Uassinger, Unnatural Combat, iii. 1. 
There were all the dainties, not only of the season, but 
of what art could add, venison, plain solid meate, fowle 
bak'd and boil'd meats, banquet (desert) in exceeding 
plenty, and exquisitely dress'd. 
Evelyn, Diary, Oct. 27, 1685. 
3f. A slight repast between meals : sometimes 
called running banquet. N. E. D. 
The running banquet of two beadles 
Shak., Henry VIII., v. 3. 
4f. In fort., same as banquette, 1. 5. A small 
rod-shaped part of a horse's bridle coming un- 
der the eye.=Syn. 1. Feast, Festival, etc. See feast. 
banquet (bang'kwet), r. [Earlier banket, < F. 
banqueter; from the noun.] I. trans. To treat 
with a feast or rich entertainment. 
You exceed in entertainment ; 
Banquet our eyes too? Shirley, The Traitor, iii. 2. 
The banshee is a species of aristocratic fairy, who, in the 
shape of a little hideous old woman, has been known to 
appear, and heard to sing in a mournful supernatural voice 
under the windows of great houses, to warn the family 
that some of them were soon to die. In the last century 
every great family in Ireland had a banshee, who attended 
regularly but latterly their visits and songs have been dis- 
continued. Miss Edgeumth. 
banstickle (ban'stik-1), n. [Sc., < ME. banstickle, 
< bane, < AS. ban, bone, q. v., + stickle, < AS. 
sticels, prickle. Cf . stickleback.'] A name of the 
three-spined stickleback. 
bant (bant), v. i. [Ludicrously formed from the 
phrase " the Banting system," the proper name 
being taken as banting, ppr. and verbal noun 
of an assumed verb bant.] To practise bant- 
ingism (which see). 
bantam (ban'tam), n. and a. [So named, prob., 
from Bow Jam, in Java.] !..!. A general name 
for a number of varieties of the common hen 
possessing the characteristic of veiy diminu- 
go through a course of banting. 
bantingism (ban'ting-izm), n. [Named after 
William Hanting.'] A course of diet for re- 
ducing corpulence, adopted and recommended 
in 1863 by William Banting, a merchant of 
London. The dietary recommended was the use of lean 
meat principally, and abstinence from fata, starches, and 
sugars. 
bantling (bant'ling), n. [Perhaps a corruption 
of "handling, meaning a child in swaddling- 
clothes, < band 2 , a wrapping, + -ling, dim. suffix, 
as in foundling, fondling, nurseling, etc.; more 
prob. for "bankling, < Q. bankling, a bastard, < 
bank, bench, + -ling; cf. equiv. G. bankert, 
LG. bankert, < bank, bench, + -ert= E. -ard.~\ 
A young child ; an infant : a term carrying 
with it a shade of contempt. 
It's a rickety sort of bantling. I'm told, 
That'll die of old age when it s seven years old. 
James Smith, Rejected Addresses. 
Bantu (ban'to), n. [A native name, lit. 'peo- 
ple.' ] A name sometimes applied to the South 
