bane
[ beyn ]
/ beɪn /
|
noun
a person or thing that ruins or spoils: Gambling was the bane of his existence.
a deadly poison (often used in combination, as in the names of poisonous plants): wolfsbane; henbane.
death; destruction; ruin.
Obsolete. that which causes death or destroys life: entrapped and drowned beneath the watery bane.
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Origin of bane
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 Old English benn, Gothic banja wound
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for banes
British Dictionary definitions for banes (1 of 2)
bane
1/ (beɪn) /
noun
a person or thing that causes misery or distress (esp in the phrase bane of one's life)
something that causes death or destruction
- a fatal poison
- (in combination)ratsbane
archaic ruin or distress
Word Origin for bane
Old English bana; related to Old Norse bani death, Old High German bano destruction, death
British Dictionary definitions for banes (2 of 2)
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for banes
bane
Old English bana "killer, slayer, murderer; the devil," from Proto-Germanic *banon, cognate with *banja- "wound" (cf. Old Frisian bona "murderer," Old Norse bani, Old High German bana "murder," Old English benn "wound," Gothic banja "stroke, wound"), from PIE root *gwhen- "to strike, kill, wound" (cf. Avestan banta "ill"). Modern sense of "that which causes ruin or woe" is from 1570s.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper