bane

A cause of misery or ruin.

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.

Chiefly in the names of poisonous plants or substances: a poison.

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.

Misery, woe; also, doom, ruin; or physical injury, harm.

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.

A disease of sheep in which breakdown of tissue occurs; rot.

A person or thing that causes death or destruction; a killer, a murderer, a slayer.

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.

To physically injure (someone or something); to harm, to hurt.

Think when thou ſéeſt the baite whereon is thy delite, / That hidden Hookes are hard at hande to bane thee when thou bite.

Novv if a ſhepherd knovv not vvhich graſs vvill bane, or vvhich not, hovv is he fit to be a ſhepherd? VVherefore the Parſon hath throughly canvaſſed al the particulars of humane actions, at leaſt thoſe vvhich he obſerveth are moſt incident to his Pariſh.

To cause (someone) misery or ruin; to socially or spiritually injure (someone).

It [covetousness] annoyeth our Phiſitions, it infecteth our Diuines, it choaketh our Lawiers, it woundeth our Farmers, it baneth our Gentlemen, it murdereth our Tradeſmen, it bewitcheth our Merchants, it ſtingeth our Marriners. Oh couetouſneſſe, couetouſneſſe: it is the poyſon of all things, the wound of Chriſtianitie, the bane of all goodneſſe.

To cause (sheep) a disease, especially the rot (“a disease in which breakdown of tissue occurs”).

To kill (a person or animal), especially by poison.

Aconit is of two ſortes (as Dioſcorides writeth) the one is named Aconitum Pardalianches, that is to ſay, Aconite that baneth, or killeth Panthers.

VVhat if my houſe be troubled vvith a Rat, / And I be pleas'd to giue ten thouſand ducats / To have it baind?

Alternative spelling of bone.

If meate or drinke thou never gavest nane, / Every night and alle: / The fire will burn thee to the bare bane; / And Christe receive thye saule.