Ar‐riere″–ban′ (�), n. [F., fr. OE. arban, heriban, fr. OHG. hariban, heriban, G. heerbann, the calling together of an army; OHG. heri an army + ban a public call or order. The French have misunderstood their old word, and have changed it into arrière-ban, though arrière has no connection with its proper meaning. See Ban, Abandon.] A proclamation, as of the French kings, calling not only their immediate feudatories, but the vassals of these feudatories, to take the field for war; also, the body of vassals called or liable to be called to arms, as in ancient France.
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Webster's Dictionary 1913
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, C. & G. Merriam Co., 1913.