Etymograph

English

bane

Bane comes from Middle English bane ‘person or thing that destroys life, murderer,…’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *banô.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*banô1‘killer, murderer, slayer’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*banō1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150bana1‘person or thing that causes death, murderer’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bane1‘person or thing that destroys life, murderer, slayer’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1513bane1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English bane
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1513, Thomas More, The History of King Richard the Thirde (Vnfinished) […]: “We haue alſo had experience yͭ the deſire of…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*banôWiktionary, English bane‘killer, murderer, slayer’reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*banōWiktionary, English banereconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150banaWiktionary, English bane‘person or thing that causes death, murderer’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500baneWiktionary, English bane‘person or thing that destroys life, murderer, slayer’
  5. Englishearliest quotation c. 1513baneWiktionary, English bane. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1513, Thomas More, The History of King Richard the Thirde (Vnfinished) […]: “We haue alſo had experience yͭ the deſire of…”

The story

The noun is derived from Middle English bane (‘person or thing that destroys life, murderer, slayer; person who destroys the soul; destruction of life, death, doom; poison’), from Old English bana (‘person or thing that causes death, murderer’), from Proto-West Germanic *banō, from Proto-Germanic *banô (‘killer, murderer, slayer; death, bane’), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- (‘to slay, kill; to strike’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰen- ‘to slay, kill’

defend, offensive, offense, fence, offend, fend, infest, 5 more

Another origin of bane

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰeh₂-‘to glow, shine’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bainaz‘straight’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*bainą‘bone’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*bain‘bone’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150bān‘bone’
  6. Northern Middle Englishmodernbon‘bone’
  7. Northern Middle Englishmodernban
  8. Englishtodaybane

Today it means

noun A cause of misery or ruin.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bane”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *banô / bane

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