bane

1 of 3

noun (1)

1
: a source of harm or ruin : curse
national frontiers have been more of a bane than a boon for mankindD. C. Thomson
2
a
: death, destruction
… stop the way of those that seek my banePhilip 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

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
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Noun
The incredibly convoluted and varied minimum bag limits across different airlines have been the bane of low-cost European travel since carry-on charges were first introduced in 2005 by the now-defunct Flybe airline. Duncan Madden, Forbes.com, 3 July 2025 Clouds are the bane of a hurricane forecaster’s existence. Zoë Schlanger, The Atlantic, 2 July 2025 Those pernicious and incomparably sticky, handheld messes that somehow became THE fireside confectionary concoction without which a camping trip would be incomplete are the bane of my existence. Caleb Harris, Austin American Statesman, 2 July 2025 Compliance Check For Key Industries Ah, compliance—the bane of every CISO's existence. Itzik Alvas, Forbes, 2 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for bane

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 *gwhen- "strike, kill" (see defend), but the general view is that initial *gwh 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

Time Traveler
The first known use of bane was before the 12th century

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Cite this Entry

“Bane.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bane. Accessed 10 Jul. 2025.

Kids Definition

bane

noun
ˈbān
1
2
: a source of harm, ruin, or unhappiness
greed is the bane of humanity

Medical Definition

bane

noun
: poison see henbane

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