bane

C2+ Topic:Cause, Change & Process

US /beɪn/ UK /beɪn/ See IPA manual

Homophones

Minimal pairs

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

Meanings

1

noun
a cause of great distress or ruin

Procrastination was the bane of his otherwise brilliant career.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a cause of great distress... curse scourge ruin plague blight affliction

Opposites

blessing boon benefit

Word family

Derived forms baneful

Related forms baleful

Etymology

From Old English bana ('slayer, murderer, cause of death'), from Proto-Germanic *banô; the sense 'poison' (as in henbane) and 'cause of ruin' developed from this.

bana Old English *banô Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Cause, Change & Process

External links

# bane

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

## Meanings
1. a cause of great distress or ruin

## Examples
- Procrastination was the bane of his otherwise brilliant career.

## Synonyms
- curse
- scourge
- ruin
- plague
- blight
- affliction

## Antonyms
- blessing
- boon
- benefit

## Derived Forms
- baneful

## Related Forms
- baleful

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: bana
- Root: *banô

## Etymology
From Old English bana ('slayer, murderer, cause of death'), from Proto-Germanic *banô; the sense 'poison' (as in henbane) and 'cause of ruin' developed from this.

## AI Etymology
Bane is a noun meaning "a cause of great distress or ruin". Historically, it is from Old English bana ('slayer, murderer, cause of death'), from Proto-Germanic *banô; the sense 'poison' (as in henbane) and 'cause of ruin' developed from this. The semantic history matters here: the earlier use is the starting point, and the modern sense, "a cause of great distress or ruin", is the later or specialized English value. The historical chain links Old English bana with Proto-Germanic *banô. Close English family members include baneful, and baleful.

## Topics
- Cause, Change & Process

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