bane

1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈbān How to pronounce bane (audio)
Synonyms of bane
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 of bane

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Noun (1)

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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
But what was designed as the solution has instead become the most contentious problem in tennis, a poster child for the law of unintended consequences and the bane of many players’ existence. — Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 25 July 2026 United Airlines is getting rid of some of its middle seats, the bane of any airline passenger. — Chris Isidore, CNN Money, 24 July 2026 Finger joint strains are the bane of long hours spent daily on the computer, which is what led Melvin Wong, founder and engineer at Airra Labs, to build a better computer mouse – the Rotary Mouse, which is currently on Kickstarter. — Shirl Leigh july 12, New Atlas, 12 July 2026 Now, decades later, weekday lunches have become the bane of my existence. — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 12 June 2026 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

Rhymes for bane

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Browse Nearby Words

bandy words
bane
baneberry
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Cite this Entry

“Bane.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bane. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.

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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

More from Merriam-Webster on bane

Nglish: Translation of bane for Spanish Speakers

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