Wiktionary

bane

See also: Appendix:Variations of "bane"

English

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WOTD – 17 April 2025

Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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Flowers of the fly-trap dogbane or spreading dogbane (Apocynum androsaemifolium). Dogbanes (noun sense 2) were once believed to repel or kill dogs.

The noun is derived from Middle English bane (“person or thing that destroys life, murderer, slayer; person who destroys the soul; destruction of life, death, doom; poison”),[1] from Old English bana (“person or thing that causes death, murderer”), from Proto-West Germanic *banō, from Proto-Germanic *banô (“killer, murderer, slayer; death, bane”),[2] probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (“to slay, kill; to strike”).

The verb is derived from the noun.[3]

cognates

Noun

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bane (countable and uncountable, plural banes)

  1. (countable) A cause of misery or ruin.
    Synonyms: affliction, curse, undoing
    Antonym: boon
    the bane of one’s existence
    • [1633], George Herbert, “Avarice”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC, page 69:
      Money, thou bane of bliſſe, & ſourſe of vvo, / VVhence com'ſt thou, that thou art ſo freſh and fine? / I knovv thy parentage is baſe and lovv: / Man found thee poore and dirtie in a mine.
    • 1673, Andrew Marvel[l], The Rehearsall Transpros’d: The Second Part. […], London: […] Nathaniel Ponder […], →OCLC, page 148:
      This is the great bane and ſcandal of the Church, that ſuch Livings as more immediately belong to it ſhould be the vvorſt ſupplyed, […]
    • 1709 May 11 (Gregorian calendar), Isaac Bickerstaff [et al., pseudonyms; Richard Steele], “Saturday, April 30, 1709”, in The Tatler, number 9; republished in [Richard Steele], editor, The Tatler, […], London stereotype edition, volume I, London: I. Walker and Co.;  […], 1822, →OCLC, page 55:
      All that I apprehend is, that dear Numps will be angry I have published these lines [of his poem]; not that he has any reason [to] be ashamed of them, but for fear of those rogues, the bane to all excellent performances, the imitators.
      The spelling has been modernized.
    • 1853 January, Currer Bell [pseudonym; Charlotte Brontë], “Malevola”, in Villette. […], volume III, London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 143–144:
      She, who had been the bane of his life, blighting his hope, and awarding him, for love and domestic happiness, long mourning and cheerless solitude, he treated with the respect a good son might offer a kind mother.
    • 1961 September, B. Perren, “The Tilbury Line Serves Industrial North Thameside”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 556:
      At Barking, previously the bane of L.T.S. operating staff, the new works have now simplified the working of traffic from four converging routes in the area.
  3. (countable, archaic) Chiefly in the names of poisonous plants or substances: a poison.
    • 1577, Conradus Heresbachius [i.e., Konrad Heresbach], compiler, “The Third Booke, of Feeding, Breeding, and Curing of Cattell”, in Barnabe Googe, transl., Fovre Bookes of Husbandry, […]: Conteyning the Whole Arte and Trade of Husbandry, with the Antiquitie, and Commendation thereof. […], London: […] Richard Watkins, →OCLC, folio 156, verso:
      For my part I would rather counſell you to deſtroy your Rattes and Miſe with Traps, Banes, or Weeſels: for beſides the ſluttiſhneſſe & lothſomeneſſe of the Catte (you know what ſhe layes in the Malt heape) ſhe is moſt daungerous and pernicious among children, as I mee ſelf haue had good experience.
    • 1580, Thomas Tusser, “Dairie”, in Fiue Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie: […], London: […] Henrie Denham [beeing the assigne of William Seres] […], →OCLC, stanza 6, folio 71, recto:
      In dairie no cat, / Laie bane for a rat. / […] / Take heede how thou laieſt, the bane for the rats, / for poiſoning ſeruant, thy ſelfe and thy brats.
    • 1586, William Warner, “The Second Booke. Chapter VIII.”, in Albions England. Or Historicall Map of the Same Island: […], London: […] George Robinson [and R. Ward] for Thomas Cadman, […], →OCLC, page 29:
      Take this (he gaue a folded cloth and to the bane therein / he mixed ſomewhat of his blood) this ſame (quoth he) ſhall win / To thee again the Husbands loue when he ſhall it eſtrange: / For out of doubt, I know it I, he takes delight in change.
    • 1614–1615, Homer, “The First Booke of Homers Odysses”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC, page 10:
      [H]e traueld through the vvatrie dreads, / For bane to poiſon his ſharpe arrovves heads, / That death, but toucht, cauſde; […]
    • 1712 (date written), [Joseph] Addison, Cato, a Tragedy. […], London: […] J[acob] Tonson, […], published 1713, →OCLC, Act V, scene i, page 57:
      Thus am I doubly arm'd; my Death and Life, / My Bane and Antidote are both before me: […]
  4. (uncountable, chiefly poetic) Misery, woe; also, doom, ruin; or physical injury, harm.
    • [1633], George Herbert, “The Forerunners”, in [Nicholas Ferrar], editor, The Temple. Sacred Poems, and Private Ejaculations, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Thomas Buck and Roger Daniel; and are to be sold by Francis Green, […], →OCLC, page 171:
      Hath ſome fond lover tic'd [i.e., enticed] thee to thy bane? / And vvilt thou leave the Church, and love a ſtie?
    • 1866, C[harles] Kingsley, “Prelude. Of the Fens.”, in Hereward the Wake, “Last of the English.” […], volume I, London; Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Macmillan and Co., →OCLC, page 4:
      He finds out, soon enough for his weal and his bane, that he is stronger than Nature: and right tyrannously and irreverently he lords it over her, clearing, delving, dyking, building, without fear or shame.
  5. (uncountable, UK, dialectal, veterinary medicine) A disease of sheep in which breakdown of tissue occurs; rot.
  6. (obsolete)
    1. (countable) A person or thing that causes death or destruction; a killer, a murderer, a slayer.
      • c. 1513 (date written), Thomas More, “The History of King Richard the Thirde (Vnfinished) […]”, in Wyllyam Rastell [i.e., William Rastell], editor, The Workes of Sir Thomas More Knyght, […], London: […] Iohn Cawod, Iohn Waly, and Richarde Tottell, published 30 April 1557, →OCLC, page 51, column 2:
        We haue alſo had experience yͭ the deſire of a kingdõe [kingdome] knoweth no kindred. The brother hath bene the brothers bane.
      • c. 1588–1593 (date written), [William Shakespeare], The Most Lamentable Romaine Tragedie of Titus Andronicus: […] (First Quarto), London: […] Iohn Danter, and are to be sold by Edward White & Thomas Millington, […], published 1594, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], signature K3, recto:
        Let Rome her ſelfe bee bane vnto her ſelfe, / And ſhee vvhome mightie kingdomes curſie [curtsey] too, / Like a forlorne and deſperate caſt avvay, / Doe ſhamefull execution on her ſelfe.
      • 1647, Henry More, “Psychathanasia or The Second Part of the Song of the Soul, Treating of the Immortality of Souls, Especially Mans Soul. Democritus Platonissans, or An Essay upon the Infinity of Worlds out of Platonick Principles. […].”, in Philosophicall Poems, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: […] Roger Daniel, printer to the University, →OCLC, stanza 97, page 215:
        [T]he broad flaſhing skies / VVith brimſtone thick and clouds of fiery bain / Shall meet vvith raging Etna's and Veſuvius flame.
    2. (uncountable) Death; destruction; (countable) an instance of this.
      • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 149, column 2:
        I vvill not be affraid of Death and Bane, / Till Birnane Forreſt come to Dunſinane.
      • 1650, [John Milton], “Intitled to the Prince of Wales”, in ΈΙΚΟΝΟΚΛΑΣΤΗΣ [Éikonoklastēs]. […], new (2nd) edition, London: […] G. Kearsly, […], published 1770, →OCLC, pages 272–273:
        [I]f now again intoxicated and moaped with theſe royal, and therefore ſo delicious becauſe royal rudiments of bondage, the cup of deception, ſpiced and tempered to their bane, they ſhould deliver up themſelves to theſe glozing words and illuſions of him, vvhoſe rage and utmoſt violence they have ſuſtained, and overcome ſo nobly.
      • 1655, Thomas Fuller, “Section III. To Mrs. Anne Danvers of Chelsey.”, in The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, book IX, page 110:
        [A] great depopulation happened [due to the plague], at the Aſſiſes of Perſons of quality, and the tvvo Judges, Baron Yates, and Baron Rigby getting their banes there, died fevv dayes later.
      • 1655, Thomas Fuller, “Section VII”, in The History of the University of Cambridge, since the Conquest, [London]: [[…] Iohn Williams […]], →OCLC, paragraph 18, page 151:
        Doctor [William] VVhitaker returning from Lambeth Conference, brought home vvith him the bane of his health, contracted there by hard and late ſtudying and vvatching in a very cold VVinter.
Derived terms
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plants
Translations
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Verb

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bane (third-person singular simple present banes, present participle baning, simple past and past participle baned) (transitive)

  1. (archaic)
    1. To physically injure (someone or something); to harm, to hurt.
      • 1567, George Turbervil[l]e, “Disprayse of Women that Allure and Loue Not”, in Epitaphes, Epigrams, Songs and Sonets, with a Discourse of the Friendly Affections of Tymetes to Pyndara His Ladie. […], London: […] Henry Denham, →OCLC, folio 61, recto:
        Think when thou ſéeſt the baite whereon is thy delite, / That hidden Hookes are hard at hande to bane thee when thou bite.
      • a. 1634 (date written), Geo[rge] Herbert, “The Parsons Accessary Knowledges”, in A Priest to the Temple, or, The Countrey Parson His Character, and Rule of Holy Life. […], London: […] T[homas] Maxey for T[imothy] Garthwait, […], published 1652, →OCLC, page 16:
        Novv if a ſhepherd knovv not vvhich graſs vvill bane, or vvhich not, hovv is he fit to be a ſhepherd? VVherefore the Parſon hath throughly canvaſſed al the particulars of humane actions, at leaſt thoſe vvhich he obſerveth are moſt incident to his Pariſh.
      • 1827, [John Keble], “Fifth Sunday after Easter. Rogation Sunday.”, in The Christian Year: Thoughts in Verse for the Sundays and Holydays throughout the Year, volume I, Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] [B]y W. Baxter, for J. Parker; and C[harles] and J[ohn] Rivington, […], →OCLC, page 175:
        For what shall heal, when holy water banes? / Or who may guide / O'er desert plains / Thy lov'd yet sinful people wandering wide, […]
    2. (figurative) To cause (someone) misery or ruin; to socially or spiritually injure (someone).
      • 1601, Arthur Dent, The Plaine Mans Path-way to Heauen. […], London: […] Robert Dexter, […], →OCLC, page 80:
        It [covetousness] annoyeth our Phiſitions, it infecteth our Diuines, it choaketh our Lawiers, it woundeth our Farmers, it baneth our Gentlemen, it murdereth our Tradeſmen, it bewitcheth our Merchants, it ſtingeth our Marriners. Oh couetouſneſſe, couetouſneſſe: it is the poyſon of all things, the wound of Chriſtianitie, the bane of all goodneſſe.
  2. (UK, dialectal, veterinary medicine) To cause (sheep) a disease, especially the rot (“a disease in which breakdown of tissue occurs”).
  3. (obsolete) To kill (a person or animal), especially by poison.
    • 1578, Rembert Dodoens, “Of Aconitum”, in Henry Lyte, transl., A Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plantes: […], London: […] [Henry [i.e., Hendrik van der] Loë for] Gerard Dewes, […], →OCLC, 3rd part (Medicinal Rootes, and Herbes, that Purge the Body, also of Noysome Weedes, and Dangerous Plantes), page 424:
      Aconit is of two ſortes (as Dioſcorides writeth) the one is named Aconitum Pardalianches, that is to ſay, Aconite that baneth, or killeth Panthers.
    • c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. […] (First Quarto), [London]: […] J[ames] Roberts [for Thomas Heyes], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i], signature H, recto:
      VVhat if my houſe be troubled vvith a Rat, / And I be pleas'd to giue ten thouſand ducats / To have it baind?
    • 1602, William Warner, “The Fifth Booke. Chapter XXV.”, in Albions England. A Continued Historie of the Same Kingdome, from the Originals of the First Inhabitants thereof: […], 5th edition, London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant for George Potter, […], →OCLC, page 119:
      Then he, vvhil'ſt he in progreſſe did at Svvinhed Abbey lye, / VVas poyſoned by a Monke, that baend himſelfe that Iohn might dye.
Conjugation
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Conjugation of bane
infinitive (to) bane
present tense past tense
1st-person singular bane baned
2nd-person singular bane, banest† baned, banedst†
3rd-person singular banes, baneth† baned
plural bane
subjunctive bane baned
imperative bane —
participles baning baned

† Archaic or obsolete.

Translations
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Etymology 2

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From Northern Middle English ban, from bon (“bone”),[4] from Old English bān, from Proto-West Germanic *bain (“bone; leg”), from Proto-Germanic *bainą (“bone; leg”), from *bainaz (“straight”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to glow, shine”) (in the sense of a straight beam of light), or *bʰeyh₂- (“to hit, strike”) (in the sense of an object for striking), or *bʰeyH-n- (“pole; straight line”).

Noun

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bane (plural banes)

  1. (chiefly Scotland) Alternative spelling of bone

References

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  1. ^ “bāne, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ Compare “bane, n.1”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2023; “bane, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  3. ^ “bane, v.”, in OED Online  ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, March 2025.
  4. ^ “bōn, n.(1)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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Danish

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Etymology 1

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Old Norse bani

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bane

  1. (archaic or poetic) bane, person/thing/event that kills someone or something

Derived terms

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Etymology 2

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From Middle Low German bane, from Old Saxon *bana, from Proto-West Germanic *banu, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *banō.

Noun

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bane c (singular definite banen, plural indefinite baner)

  1. track
    Coordinate terms: vej, vejbane, vognbane
  2. trajectory
    Coordinate terms: kurs, rute, vej, løb, forløb
    1. (figurative) lifepath
      Synonym: livsbane
  3. railway
    Synonym: jernbane

Inflection

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Declension of bane
common
gender 		singular plural
indefinite definite indefinite definite
nominative bane banen baner banerne
genitive banes banens baners banernes

Etymology 3

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From Middle Low German bahnen.

Verb

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bane (imperative ban, infinitive at bane, present tense baner, past tense banede, perfect tense banet)

  1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Fixed Expressions

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  1. (reflexive) bane sig vej (“to move persistently with difficulty or force”)
  2. bane vej or bane vejen (“to pave the way”)

Conjugation

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Conjugation of bane
active passive
present baner —
past banede —
infinitive bane —
imperative ban —
participle
present -
past banet
(auxiliary verb have)
gerund —

References

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Dutch

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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bane

  1. (dated or formal) singular present subjunctive of banen

Galician

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Verb

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bane

  1. inflection of banir:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Japanese

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Romanization

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bane

  1. Rōmaji transcription of ばね

Latin

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Noun

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bane

  1. vocative singular of banus

Manx

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Etymology

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From Old Irish bán, from Proto-Celtic *bānos (“white”).

Adjective

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bane (plural baney, comparative baney)

  1. white, blank, pallid
    Er cabbyl bane va mee. ― My mount was a white horse.
    Haink daah bane yn aggle er. ― He blanched with fear.
  2. fair, blonde
    Shen Illiam Bane. ― That's fair-haired William.
  3. fallow
    Faag y magher bane. ― Leave the field lea.

Derived terms

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Mutation

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Mutation of bane
radical lenition eclipsis
bane vane mane

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in standard Manx.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

See also

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Colors in Manx · daaghyn (layout · text)
     bane      lheeah      doo
             jiarg; feer-yiarg              jiarg-bwee; dhone              bwee; bane-wuigh
                          geayney, glass             
                          gorrym-ghlass, speyr-ghorrym              gorrym
             plooreenagh              jiarg gorrym              jiarg-bane

References

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Middle Dutch

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Etymology 1

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From Old Dutch *bana, from Proto-West Germanic *banu, from Proto-Germanic *banō.

Noun

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bāne f

  1. open field, battlefield
  2. lane, track (for playing balls)
  3. road, way, path
Inflection
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This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants
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  • Dutch: baan
    • Afrikaans: baan
    • → Indonesian: ban
  • Limburgish: baan

Etymology 2

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From Old Dutch *bano, from Proto-West Germanic *banō, from Proto-Germanic *banô.

Noun

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bāne f or m

  1. harm, pain
Inflection
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This noun needs an inflection-table template.

Further reading

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Middle English

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Etymology 1

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Inherited from Old English bana, from Proto-West Germanic *banō, from Proto-Germanic *banô.

Alternative forms

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Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈbaːn(ə)/
  • (West Midlands) IPA(key): /ˈbɔːn(ə)/, /ˈbɒːn(ə)/

Noun

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bane (plural banes)

  1. murderer, slayer
  2. bane, destroyer
Descendants
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References

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Etymology 2

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Noun

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bane (plural banes)

  1. Alternative form of bon (“bone”)

Norwegian Bokmål

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Etymology 1

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From Middle Low German bane, compare with German Bahn.

Noun

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bane m (definite singular banen, indefinite plural baner, definite plural banene)

  1. a trajectory
  2. a railway line
  3. a sports field
  4. a racing track
  5. orbit (of a satellite, including the moon)
Synonyms
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Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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From Old Norse bani.

Noun

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bane m (definite singular banen, indefinite plural baner, definite plural banene)

  1. death (by murder)

Etymology 3

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From Middle Low German bane, compare with German bahnen.

Verb

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bane (imperative ban, present tense baner, passive banes, simple past bana or banet or bante, past participle bana or banet or bant, present participle banende)

  1. to pave, as in
    bane vei for - pave the way for

References

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Norwegian Nynorsk

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Etymology 1

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From Middle Low German bane, compare with German Bahn.

Noun

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bane m or f (definite singular banen or bana, indefinite plural banar or baner, definite plural banane or banene)

  1. a trajectory
  2. a railway line
  3. a sports field
  4. a racing track
  5. orbit (of a satellite, including the moon)
Derived terms
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Etymology 2

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From Old Norse bani.

Noun

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bane m (definite singular banen, indefinite plural banar, definite plural banane)

  1. death (by murder)

Etymology 3

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From Middle Low German bane.

Alternative forms

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Verb

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bane (present tense banar, past tense bana, past participle bana, passive infinitive banast, present participle banande, imperative bane/ban)

  1. to pave, as in
    bane veg for - pave the way for

References

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Old English

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Noun

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bāne

  1. dative singular of bān

Old Frisian

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Bāna.

Etymology

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From Proto-West Germanic *baunu, from Proto-Germanic *baunō. Cognates include Old English bēan, Old Saxon bōna and Old Dutch *bōna.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bāne f

  1. bean

Descendants

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References

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  • Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, →ISBN

Portuguese

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Verb

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bane

  1. inflection of banir:
    1. third-person singular present indicative
    2. second-person singular imperative

Scots

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Etymology

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From Northern Middle English bane, from Old English bān, from Proto-Germanic *bainą.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bane (plural banes)

  1. (anatomy) bone, limb

Derived terms

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Swedish

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Etymology

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As a simplex noun a borrowing from Old Swedish bani, from Old Norse bani, from Proto-Germanic *banô, from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰon-on-, from the o-grade of *gʷʰen- (“to strike, to kill”). Cognate to English bane, Icelandic bani.

The word can be regarded as a reborrowing from Old Swedish mediaeval literature. It is not attested in writing in the 16th and 17th centuries, but was reinforced due to its usage in the mediaeval Swedish country laws, which were in use until the 18th century. During the 17th century its usage is usually accompanied by a definition explaining the meaning. It was revived in the late 17th century due to the resurging interest in the middle ages and the Icelandic sagas, cf. other Icelandic loans from the same era, e.g. idrott, skald, dyrd. Already in SAOB (1899) it is regarded as archaic or literary and mostly used in a few set phrases.

The word survived in the compound baneman (“slayer, murderer”), which is attested from the 16th and 17th centuries, and dialectally in the southern Swedish word hönsbane (“henbane, Hyoscyamus niger”), in standard Swedish bolmört.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bane c (indeclinable)

  1. (archaic) cause of someone’s (violent) death; bane
    • 1830, Fredrika Bremer, translated by Mary Howitt, Familjen H*** [The H— family]‎[1]:
      Din egen passionerade själ — se där draken, mot vilken du bör strida, vars eld skall förtära dig och bliva andras bane, om den ej kväves.
      […]thy own impassioned soul! Behold the dragon with which thou oughtest to contend—whose fire will consume thee, and be the bane of others, if thou do not subject it.

Derived terms

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References

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Anagrams

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Yola

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Etymology

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From Middle English bane, from Old English bān, from Proto-West Germanic *bain, from Proto-Germanic *bainą.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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bane

  1. bone

References

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  • Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 24
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