bane

[beyn]

noun

1. a person or thing that ruins or spoils.

   Gambling was the bane of his existence.

2. a deadly poison (often used in combination, as in the names of poisonous plants).

   wolfsbane;

   henbane.

3. death; destruction; ruin.

4. Obsolete.,  that which causes death or destroys life.

   entrapped and drowned beneath the watery bane.

bane

¹

/ beɪn /

noun

1. a person or thing that causes misery or distress (esp in the phrase bane of one's life )

2. something that causes death or destruction

3. 1. a fatal poison

   2. ( in combination )

      ratsbane

4. archaic,  ruin or distress

bane

²

/ beɪn, ben /

noun

1. a Scot word for bone

Word History and Origins

Origin of bane¹

First recorded before 1000; Middle English; Old English bana “slayer”; cognate with Old Norse bani “death, murderer,” Old Frisian bona “murder,” Old Saxon bano “murderer,” Old High German bano “slayer,” bana “death”; akin to Armenian ǰnǰel “to destroy,” Greek theínein “to strike,” Latin -fendere “to strike,” Persian zahr “poison,” Polish gonić “to pursue,” Sanskrit hánti “to strike”

Word History and Origins

Origin of bane¹

Old English bana ; related to Old Norse bani death, Old High German bano destruction, death

Example Sentences

There is a mountain of paperwork to be done, the bane of every cop.

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“Whether by the banes of the sea, banes of the farm, or banes of the woods.”

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“When I’m playing, it zones out,” Anna Leigh Waters says of that unmistakable, plastic pop, pop, pop distinct to the wildly popular paddle sport—and a bane to fussy condo boards everywhere.

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But Qatar has also been a bane of American conservatives because of its history in hosting Hamas’s political leadership and its support for other Islamist groups.

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Critics fear that Shein -- whose meteoric rise has been a bane for traditional retail fashion companies -- will further hurt stores in France that have had to lay off staff or close.

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