injunction

From Middle English iniunccyon, iniunccion, from Old French injonctïon, from Latin iniūnctiō (“command, injunction”).

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈd͡ʒʌŋk.ʃən/

• Audio (Southern England):

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• Rhymes: -ʌŋkʃən

injunction (plural injunctions)

1. The act of enjoining; the act of directing, commanding, or prohibiting.
2. That which is enjoined; such as an order, mandate, decree, command, precept.
   • 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XIX, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, pages 242–243:

     […] she added, “Lizzy, I insist upon your staying and hearing Mr. Collins.” Elizabeth would not oppose such an injunction—and a moment's consideration making her also sensible that it would be wisest to get it over as soon and as quietly as possible, […] .

   • [1921 [1919], H. L. Mencken, chapter 39, in The American Language, 2nd edition, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 262:

     Its verbs are conjugated in a way that defies all the injunctions of the grammar books; it has its contumacious rules of tense, number and case; […]]

   • 2022 September 8, Stephen Bates, “Queen Elizabeth II obituary”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     At the end of the Falklands war two years earlier too, the Queen, whose second son, Andrew, had served as a helicopter pilot with the task force, was singularly untriumphalist and showed no inclination to follow her prime minister’s injunction to rejoice at victory.

3. (law) A writ or process, granted by a court of equity, and, in some cases, under statutes, by a court of law, whereby a party is required to do or to refrain from doing certain acts, according to the exigency of the writ.

   Coordinate term: declaratory judgment

   • 2012 April 19, Josh Halliday, “Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised?”, in The Guardian‎^[2]:

     Southwark council, which took out the injunction against Matt, believes YouTube has become the "new playground" for gang members.

   • 2025 May 29, Kalyeena Makortoff, “US federal court blocks Trump from imposing sweeping tariffs”, in The Guardian‎^[3], →ISSN:

     The judges said Trump must issue new orders reflecting the permanent injunction within 10 days.

• The verb associated with this word is enjoin. Injunct is also sometimes used as a synonym.

• injunctive (adjective)

• injunction on Wikipedia.Wikipedia