bane

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈbān 

1

: a source of harm or ruin : curse

national frontiers have been more of a bane than a boon for mankind

—D. C. Thomson

2

a

: death, destruction

… stop the way of those that seek my bane …

—Philip Sidney

b

: woe

c

: poison

d

obsolete : killer, slayer

bane

2 of 3

verb

baned; baning

transitive verb

obsolete

: to kill especially with poison

bane

3 of 3

noun (2)

chiefly Scotland

: bone

Synonyms

Noun (1)

• affliction
• curse
• nemesis
• scourge

Examples of bane in a Sentence

Noun (1)

regarding the new laborsaving machinery as a bane, the 19th-century Luddites went about destroying it in protest

a plant that is believed to be the bane of the wolf

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Sargassum, the stinky, slimy bane of beachgoers worldwide, returned to swarm south Florida beaches last week, as masses of the seaweed were spotted lining the shores of Miami Beach, a famous destination and beach getaway for travelers. —Doyle Rice, USA Today, 1 May 2025

Women's sports bras were the bane of my teen existence. —Boutayna Chokrane, Wired News, 19 Apr. 2025

There is no reason to assume that the ancient peoples of the Andes were somehow free of the same mental obscurations that Buddhists have famously identified as the bane of the human condition. —Wade Davis, Rolling Stone, 6 Apr. 2025

Wolfsbane is part of a larger suite of banes; compounds and derivatives include ratsbane, fleabane, and cow-bane, each name signaling a different poison. —Laura Murphy, JSTOR Daily, 28 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Middle English, "killer, agent of death, death," going back to Old English bana "killer, agent of death," going back to Germanic *banan- (whence also Old Frisian bana, bona "killer," Old High German bano "killer, murderer," Old Norse bani "murderer, violent death"), of uncertain origin

Note: Another Germanic derivative from the same base is represented by Old English benn (feminine strong noun) "wound, sore," Old Saxon beniwunda, Old Norse ben "wound," Gothic banja "blow, wound." Attempts have been made to derive the etymon from Indo-European *g^when- "strike, kill" (see defend), but the general view is that initial *g^wh could not yield b in Germanic. See further discussion in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Althochdeutschen, Band 1, pp. 460-61.

Verb

derivative of bane entry 1

Noun (2)

early Scots and northern Middle English ban, bane, going back to Old English bān — more at bone entry 1

First Known Use

Noun (1)

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2d

Verb

1578, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1578, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bane

• ane
• blain
• brain
• cane
• chaine
• cheyne
• deign
• drain
• fain
• fane
• feign
• gain

Kids Definition

bane

noun

ˈbān

1

: poison entry 1 sense 1

2

: a source of harm, ruin, or unhappiness

greed is the bane of humanity

Medical Definition

bane

noun

ˈbān 

: poison see henbane