bain

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /beɪn/ UK /beɪn/ See IPA manual

Homophones

bane /beɪn/

Minimal pairs

Sounds like ben /ɛ/ vs /eɪ/ Sounds like vane /v/ vs /b/

adj noun

Meanings

1

adj
ready, willing, or pliant; in dialect, a bath

The old farmhand was ever bain to lend a hand.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · ready, willing, or pliant;... ready willing pliant supple compliant

Opposites

unwilling reluctant stiff

Word family

Related forms boun

Etymology

From Middle English bayn ('ready, obedient'), from Old Norse beinn ('straight, direct, favorable'); the dialectal 'bath' sense is a separate borrowing from French bain, from Latin balneum.

beinn Old Norse

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

# bain

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj, noun
**IPA (US):** beɪn
**IPA (UK):** beɪn

## Meanings
1. ready, willing, or pliant; in dialect, a bath

## Examples
- The old farmhand was ever bain to lend a hand.

## Synonyms
- ready
- willing
- pliant
- supple
- compliant

## Antonyms
- unwilling
- reluctant
- stiff

## Related Forms
- boun

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: beinn

## Etymology
From Middle English bayn ('ready, obedient'), from Old Norse beinn ('straight, direct, favorable'); the dialectal 'bath' sense is a separate borrowing from French bain, from Latin balneum.

## AI Etymology
Bain is from Middle English bayn ('ready, obedient'), from Old Norse beinn ('straight, direct, favorable'); the dialectal 'bath' sense is a separate borrowing from French bain, from Latin balneum. Important recorded forms include beinn (Old Norse). The current sense covers ready, willing, or pliant; in dialect, a bath. The wider family includes related words such as boun.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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bain

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