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bain

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bain¹

  • /beɪn/

Rhymes with -eɪn

Where it comes from

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

adjective more bain · most bain · bane

  1. dialectal Ready; willing.
  2. dialectal Direct; near; short; gain. That is the bainest way.
  3. dialectal Limber; pliant; flexible.

adverb more bain · most bain · bane

  1. dialectal Readily; willingly.
  2. dialectal Nearby; at hand.

bain²

  • /beɪn/

Rhymes with -eɪn

Where it comes from

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

noun bains · bane · bayne

  1. 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 Hele

verb bains · baining · bained · bane · bayne

  1. obsolete To bathe. Thomas Lodge, Rosalynde: Euphues' Golden Legacy, 2nd ed. (1592), Rosader's Second Sonetto, l. 9: "If so I bain me in the spring,/Even on the brink I hear him sing."

Bain³

Where it comes from

* As a Scottish surname, from Scottish Gaelic bàn (“white, fair”), also found in McBain.

* As an English surname, from Old English ban (“bone”). Also from bayn (“hospitable”), from Old Norse beinn (“straight”).

* As a French surname, from Old French bain (“bath”), from Latin balneum.

* As a German surname, spelling variant of Behn.

proper noun

  1. A surname.
  2. A locality in Cypress County, Alberta, Canada.
  3. A river in Lincolnshire, England, which flows south to the River Witham.
  4. A short river in North Yorkshire, England, which joins the River Ure near Bainbridge.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: stool, bathing, bath, marie, bound, prompt, gain, good, yare, all set, acceptive, assentaneous, prepared, willing, agreeable, coming

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MLA

"bain." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/bain. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

bain. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/bain

Chicago

"bain." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/bain.

BibTeX
@misc{bain_2026,
  title = {bain},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/bain},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}