Interdict and interdiction are used for very serious prohibitions—more serious than, say, a professor telling the class that texting is forbidden during lectures. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, an interdict was a sentence imposed by the powerful Catholic Church forbidding a person or place, and sometimes even an entire country, from receiving church privileges or participating in church functions. Interdict now often means "cut off" in a physically forceful way as well; interdictions are usually targeted at either arms supplies or illegal drug shipments.
forbid implies that the order is from one in authority and that obedience is expected.
smoking is forbidden in the building
prohibit suggests the issuing of laws, statutes, or regulations.
prohibited the sale of liquor
interdict implies prohibition by civil or ecclesiastical authority usually for a given time or a declared purpose.
practices interdicted by the church
inhibit implies restraints or restrictions that amount to prohibitions, not only by authority but also by the exigencies of the time or situation.
conditions inhibiting the growth of free trade
Example Sentences
Noun the church's controversial interdict against the use of birth control devices Verb the state legislature moved to interdict the use of radar-detection devices by motorists federal agents are able to interdict only a small percentage of the narcotic shipments into the country
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Environmental and community groups in South Africa's Eastern Cape province won an urgent interdict to stop the surveys in December last year and are now asking the court to permanently halt the operations. Mogomotsi Magome, ajc, 2 June 2022 South African Revenue Service Commissioner Tom Moyane will seek a legal interdict against Cyril Ramaphosa if the president does not stop trying to remove him from the tax agency, according to people familiar with the matter. Paul Vecchiatto, Bloomberg.com, 19 Mar. 2018
Verb
That would give Chinese authorities the option to interdict some vessels while allowing supplies of food, for example, to go through. Charles Hutzler, WSJ, 4 Aug. 2022 The ability to counteract and interdict any military equipment that involves electronic communication or GPS positioning would be central to any such mission -- and without overstepping any national boundaries. David A. Andelman, CNN, 21 July 2022 The Russians eventually caught on to the Ukrainians’ flight profiles and began positioning SAMs to interdict the Mariupol resupply missions, shooting down several helicopters and compelling Kyiv to halt the flights. David Axe, Forbes, 24 June 2022 And the trucks carrying the munitions the Russians want to interdict are just a small part of a much larger flow of goods and commerce moving around in Poland and Ukraine and across the border. Robert Burns, Anchorage Daily News, 13 Apr. 2022 Then there are the border crossers that agents are unable to interdict.Washington Post, 3 June 2021 Agents responded to try to interdict the boat and saw several people in the water who appeared to be in distress near Children’s Pool around 5:20 a.m., Stephenson said. Karen Kucher, San Diego Union-Tribune, 20 May 2021 Bowman argued the administration should move to interdict arms shipments to Yemen, depriving the Houthis of a steady supply of weapons.NBC News, 12 Mar. 2021 No one was arrested, and the ultralight flew back to Mexico before federal agents were able to interdict it. Anna Giaritelli, Washington Examiner, 4 Dec. 2020 See More
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English, alteration of entredite, from Anglo-French, from Latin interdictum prohibition, from neuter of interdictus, past participle of interdicere to interpose, forbid, from inter- + dicere to say — more at diction