banewort
(ˈbeɪnwɜːt)
[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. [1847 Halliwell cites Skinner.] 1861 Miss Pratt Flower. Pl. IV. 72 Dwale, or Deadly Nightshade..Early English botanists called it Bane-wort. |