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bane definition

bane (bān)

noun

  1. Old Poet. deadly harm; ruin; death
  2. the cause of distress, death, or ruin
  3. deadly poison: now obsolete except in ratsbane, etc.

Etymology: ME < OE bana < IE base *bhen-, to strike, wound > Avestan banta-, sick, weak, Goth banja, wound, blow

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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