The Good Oil Word of the Day

The word for today is…

contraband (noun) -

1: illegal or prohibited traffic in goods : smuggling 2: goods or merchandise whose importation, exportation, or possession is forbidden, also : smuggled goods

Source : Merriam-Webster

Etymology : Contraband first appeared in English in the early 1500s as a borrowing of Italian contrabbando. This Italian word can be traced to the Medieval Latin word contrabannum, a combination of contra- ("against") and bannum ("decree"). Bannum is Germanic in origin and is related to Old High German bannan ("to command"). Bannan is also related to Middle English bannen ("to summon or to curse"), the source of the English verb ban, which now means "to prohibit" but which once also meant "to curse."

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