1.
[syn: forbidden, out(p), prohibited, proscribed, taboo, tabu, verboten]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
Proscribe \Pro*scribe"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Proscribed; p.
pr. & vb. n. Proscribing.] [L. proscribere, proscriptum, to
write before, to publish, proscribe; pro before + scribere to
write. See Scribe. The sense of this word originated in the
Roman practice of writing the names of persons doomed to
death, and posting the list in public.]
1. To doom to destruction; to put out of the protection of
law; to outlaw; to exile; as, Sylla and Marius proscribed
each other's adherents.
[1913 Webster]
Robert Vere, Earl of Oxford, . . . was banished the
realm, and proscribed. --Spenser.
[1913 Webster]
2. To denounce and condemn; to interdict; to prohibit; as,
the Puritans proscribed theaters.
[1913 Webster]
The Arian doctrines were proscribed and
anathematized in the famous Council of Nice.
--Waterland.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
proscribed
adj 1: excluded from use or mention; "forbidden fruit"; "in our
house dancing and playing cards were out"; "a taboo
subject" [syn: forbidden, out(p), prohibited,
proscribed, taboo, tabu, verboten]
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856):
PROSCRIBED, civil law. Among the Romans, a man was said to be proscribed
when a reward was offered for his head; but the term was more usually
applied to those who were sentenced to some punishment which carried with it
the consequences of civil death. Code, 9; 49.