[f. BANE poison + WORT, OE. wyrt, plant, herb.] a. gen. Any poisonous plant (dial.). b. spec. The Lesser Spearwort (Ranunculus Flammula), reputed to poison sheep. c. The Deadly Nightshade.
a. 1864. Whitby Gloss., s.v., It’s some mak o’ banewort.
b. 1578. Lyte, Dodoens, 425. Called in some places of Englande Sperworte, it may be also called Banewort.
1597. Gerarde, Herbal, II. ccclxx. (1633), 962. Speare, Crowfoot, and Bane woort because it is dangerous and deadly for sheep.
1635. Swan, Spec. M. (1670), 219. Spear-wort, or Bane-wort, is an herb which if it be taken inwardly is deadly.
c. [Halliwell cites Skinner.]
1861. Miss Pratt, Flower. Pl., IV. 72. Dwale, or Deadly Nightshade … Early English botanists called it Bane-wort.
