Prohibit, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Prohibited; p. pr. & vb. n. Prohibiting.]
Etymology: [L. prohibitus, p. p. of prohibere to prohibit; pro before, forth + habere to have, hold. See Habit.]
1. To forbid by authority; to interdict; as, God prohibited Adam from eating of the fruit of a certain tree; we prohibit a person from doing a thing, and also the doing of the thing; as, the law prohibits men from stealing, or it prohibits stealing.
Note: Prohibit was formerly followed by to with the infinitive, but is now commonly followed by from with the verbal noun in -ing.
2. To hinder; to debar; to prevent; to preclude. Gates of burning adamant, Barred over us, prohibit all egress. Milton.
Syn. -- To forbid; interdict; debar; prevent; hinder. -- Prohibit, Forbid. To forbid is Anglo-Saxon, and is more familiar; to prohibit is Latin, and is more formal or official. A parent forbids his child to be out late at night; he prohibits his intercourse with the profane and vicious.
Shades of meaning
To prohibit is to give some formal command against, and especially to make some authoritative legal enactment against. Debar is said of persons, disallow of acts; one is debarred from anything when shut off, as by some irresistible authority or necessity; one is prohibited from an act in express terms; he may be debarred by silent necessity. An act is disallowed by the authority that might have allowed it; the word is especially applied to acts which are done before they are pronounced upon; thus, a government may disallow the act of its commander in the field or its admiral on the high seas. Inhibit and interdict are chiefly known by their ecclesiastical use. As between forbid and prohibit, forbid is less formal and more personal, prohibit more official and judicial, with the implication of readiness to use such force as may be needed to give effect to the enactment; a parent forbids a child to take part in some game or to associate with certain companions; the slave-trade is now prohibited by the leading nations of the world. Many things are prohibited by law which can not be wholly prevented, as gambling and prostitution; on the other hand, things may be prevented which are not prohibited, as the services of religion, the payment of debts, or military conquest. That which is precluded need not be prohibited. Compare abolish; hinder; prevent.
Prepositions
An act is prohibited by law; a person is prohibited by law from doing a certain act. Prohibit was formerly construed, as forbid still is, with the infinitive, but the construction with from and the verbal noun has now entirely superseded the older usage.