bain meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

bain

adj

/beɪn/

Etymology From Middle English bain, bayne, bayn, beyn (“direct, prompt”), from Old Norse beinn (“straight, right, favourable, advantageous, convenient, friendly, fair, keen”).

Dialectal Ready; willing.

Dialectal Direct; near; short; gain.

That is the bainest way.

Dialectal Limber; pliant; flexible.

bain

adv

Etymology From Middle English bain, bayne, bayn, beyn (“direct, prompt”), from Old Norse beinn (“straight, right, favourable, advantageous, convenient, friendly, fair, keen”).

Dialectal Readily; willingly.

Dialectal Nearby; at hand.

Derived terms: bainly

bain

noun

Etymology From Middle English bayne~baine, from Old French bain, from Latin baneum, variant of balneum. Doublet of bagnio, balaneion, and banya.

Obsolete A bath.

THus was sir Tramtryst longe there wel cherysshed / with the kynge and the quene /[…]/ So vpon a daye / the quene and la beale Isoud made a bayne for syre Tramtryst / And whan he was in his bayne / the quene and Isoud her doughter romed vp & doune in the chamber / and there whyles Gouernail and Heles attendyd vpon Tramtryst1485, Sir Thomas Malory, “xj”, in Le Morte Darthur, book VIII:

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