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.
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
Words nearby bane
Example sentences from the Web for bane
British Dictionary definitions for bane (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