bane

/beɪn/

//beɪn// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"bane" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bane” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #20,563) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#20,563
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A cause of misery or ruin.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bane · bane · English

bane · rank #20,563 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,563
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bandwagon

Nearest frequency peer: bandwagon (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “bane”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “bane” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bane vs be
50% similar
bane vs bn
50% similar
bane vs bar
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bane
PropertyValue
Headwordbane
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/beɪn/
Letters4
Frequency rank#20,563
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “bane”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).banelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “bandwagon” (#20,562), “basins” (#20,564), “auditing” (#20,561). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bane” is #20,563. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for bane is neighbouring look-alikes ("be", "bn", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /beɪn/. Frequency #20,563 among 4,121 “B” headwords. 6 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for bane, with forms such as "abne", "banne", and "bbane". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "be", "bn", "bar", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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-… The correct English form is bane, spelled B-A-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A cause of misery or ruin.
  2. 2
    Chiefly in the names of poisonous plants or substances: a poison.
  3. 3
    Misery, woe; also, doom, ruin; or physical injury, harm.
  4. 4
    A disease of sheep in which breakdown of tissue occurs; rot.
  5. 5
    A person or thing that causes death or destruction; a killer, a murderer, a slayer.
  6. 6
    Death; destruction; (countable) an instance of this.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how bane appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. the bane of one’s existence
  2. 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.

Etymology

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”). The verb is derived from the noun. cognates * Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌽𐌾𐌰 (banja, “wound”) * Old Frisian bona (“death; murder”) * Old Norse bani (Danish bane (“death; murder”), Icelandic bani (“bane, death”), Swedish bane (“death; murder”)), Old Norse ben (“(moral) wound”) * Old English ben, benn (“mortal injury; wound”) * Old High German bano (“death”) (Middle High German ban, bane) * Old Saxon bano (“death; murder”), beni (“mortal injury; wound”)

This word in other languages

desgracia(Español)calamité(Français)Ruin(Deutsch)desgraça(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abne
  • banne
  • bbane
  • bnae

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bane - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

abne2banne1bbane1bnae2
Edit distance from "bane"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bane"?
"bane" is spelled B-A-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /beɪn/.
What does "bane" mean?
As a noun, "bane" means: A cause of misery or ruin.
What words are commonly confused with "bane"?
"bane" is commonly confused with "be", "bn", "bar". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bane"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bane" is /beɪn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "bane"?
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”), f... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bane", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

BIOS#20,568borg#20,574coli#20,590dank#20,602

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list