bane

1. (countable) A cause of misery or ruin.Examples: "the bane of one’s existence"; "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."; "This is the great bane and ſcandal of the Church, that ſuch Livings as more immediately belong to it ſhould be the vvorſt ſupplyed, […]"Synonyms: affliction, curse, undoing, downfallAntonyms: booncountable

2. (countable, archaic) Chiefly in the names of poisonous plants or substances: a poison.Examples: "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."; "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."; "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."archaiccountable

3. (uncountable, chiefly poetic) Misery, woe; also, doom, ruin; or physical injury, harm.Examples: "Hath ſome fond lover tic'd [i.e., enticed] thee to thy bane? / And vvilt thou leave the Church, and love a ſtie?"; "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."poeticuncountable

4. (uncountable, UK, dialectal, veterinary medicine) A disease of sheep in which breakdown of tissue occurs; rot.UKdialectaluncountable

5. (obsolete)Examples: "We haue alſo had experience yͭ the deſire of a kingdõe [kingdome] knoweth no kindred. The brother hath bene the brothers bane."; "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."; "[T]he broad flaſhing skies / VVith brimſtone thick and clouds of fiery bain / Shall meet vvith raging Etna's and Veſuvius flame."countableobsolete

6. (obsolete)Examples: "I vvill not be affraid of Death and Bane, / Till Birnane Forreſt come to Dunſinane."; "[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."; "[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."obsoleteuncountable