bane (1)

[BONE.] (O. Eng. & Scotch.) bane (2), s. [A.S. ban a = (1) a wound-maker, a murderer (2) destruction, death, the undoing; bane, ben, benn = a wound; Sw. bane = bane, death; Icel. bani = death, murder; in compos. ban a, as ban a - sott = death-sickne ; ban a -sar = death-wound, from ban a = to slay, ben = a deadly wound; Mid. H. Ger. & Flem. bane = destruction; O. H. Ger. ban a death-blow, murder; bano = murderer Goth. banja = a blow, a wound (BANG); Irish ban a = death. Bane may be connected with Arm. benyn, vinym; Fr. venin; Sp., Port., & Ital. veneno; Lat. venenum = poison.] [BANE, V.] *A. Of persons: A murderer. "And schulde have bane be on. MS. Cott., Titus , D. xviii., f. 147. (S. in Boucher .) B. Of things : L. Lit .: Poison of a deadly kind. [BANEBERRY.] II. Figuratively : 1. Anything highly detrimental, noxious, or fatal. "Thus am I doubly arm'd my death and life, My bane and antidote, are both before me: This, in a moment, brings me to an end; But that informs me I shall never die." Add is on. 2. Anything detrimental to a le er extent. "For mutability is Nature's bane." Words worth: Excursion, bk. iii. Crabb thus distinguishes between bane, pest, and ruin:-" Bane is said of things only; pest, of persons only. Whatever produces a deadly corruption is the bane ; whoever is as obnoxious as the plague is a pest ; ruin is that which actually causes ruin; luxury is the bane of civil society; gaming is the bane of youth; sycophants are the pests of society. drinking is the ruin of all who indulge to exce ." (Crabb: Eng . Synon.)