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bane - 6 dictionary results
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. |
Origin:
bef. 1000; ME; OE bana slayer; c. ON bani death, murderer, OFris bona murder, OS bano murderer, OHG bano slayer, bana death; akin to OE benn, Goth banja wound
bef. 1000; ME; OE bana slayer; c. ON bani death, murderer, OFris bona murder, OS bano murderer, OHG bano slayer, bana death; akin to OE benn, Goth banja wound

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To bane
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Bane
Bane\ (b[=a]n), n. [OE. bane destruction, AS. bana murderer; akin to Icel. bani death, murderer, OHG. bana murder, bano murderer, Goth. banja stroke, wound, Gr. foney`s murderer, fo`nos murder, OIr. bath death, benim I strike. [root]31.]1. That which destroys life, esp. poison of a deadly quality. [Obs. except in combination, as in ratsbane, henbane, etc.] 2. Destruction; death. [Obs.] The cup of deception spiced and tempered to their bane. --Milton. 3. Any cause of ruin, or lasting injury; harm; woe. Money, thou bane of bliss, and source of woe. --Herbert. 4. A disease in sheep, commonly termed the rot. Syn: Poison; ruin; destruction; injury; pest.Bane
Bane\, v. t. To be the bane of; to ruin. [Obs.] --Fuller.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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bane
O.E. bana "slayer, murderer," from P.Gmc. *banon, cognate with *banja- "wound" (cf. O.Fris. bona "murderer," O.H.G. bana "murder," Goth. banja "stroke, wound"), from PIE base *bhen- "to strike, wound" (cf. Avestan banta "ill"). Modern sense of "that which causes ruin or woe" is from 1577.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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