▪ I. † bain, a. (n.) and adv. Obs. exc. dial.
(beɪn)
Forms: 4–5 bayn, 5 beyn, 5–6 bayne, 6–9 bane, 6–7 bain.
[a. ON. beinn straight, direct; also, ready to serve, hospitable.]
A. adj.
1. Ready, willing, inclined.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. C. 136 So bayn wer þay boþe two, his bone for to wyrk. c 1440 Morte Arth. (Roxb.) 104 To batayle be ye bayne. 1513 Douglas æneis iii. ii. 58 To seik ȝour ald modir mak ȝou bane. c 1550 Turke & Gowin 109 in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 94, I will be att thy bidding baine. 1674 Ray N. Countr. Wds. 4 Bain, Willing, Forward. |
2. Supple, lithe, limber.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 29 Beyn or plyaunte, Flexibilis. 1565 Golding Ovid's Met. iii. (1593) 77 And wantonly they writh..among the waves their bodies baine and lyth. 1674 Ray S. & E. Countr. Wds. 59 Bain, Lithe, limber-joynted. |
3. Direct; near, short. north. dial. [Cf. ON. ‘beinstr vegr straightest, shortest way,’ Vigfusson.]
| 1864 Atkinson Whitby Gloss., Banest, nearest, ‘That way 's the banest.’ 1864 T. Clarke in Kendal Merc. 30 Jan. (Westm. dial.), A swind mi ways t' banest geeat ower t' fell. |
B. quasi-n. A ready or willing one.
| c 1460 Towneley Myst. 82 He has bene sene agane, The buxumnes of his bane [respexit humilitatem ancillæ suæ]. |
C. as adv.
1. Readily, willingly.
| c 1325 E.E. Allit. P. B. 1511 Ful bayn birlen þise oþer. c 1450 Gaw. & Gologras i. vi, The berne besely and bane blenkit hym about. 1513 Douglas æneis v. Prol. 58 Byand byssely, and bane [v.r. bayne], buge, beuir, & bice. |
2. Conveniently near, ‘handy.’ north. dial.
| ? a 1700 Anc. Poems, Ball., etc. (1846) 215 Bane ta Claapan town-gate lived an oud Yorkshire tike. 1824 Craven Dial. i. 11 We're vara bane tot' beck. |
▪ II. † bain, n. Obs.
Forms: 5–6 baygne, 5–7 bayne, baine, 6–7 bane, bain.
[a. F. bain (= Pr. banh, It. bagno, Sp. baño):—L. balneum bath.]
1. A quantity of water or other liquid placed in a suitable receptacle, in which one may bathe.
| 1475 Caxton Jason 105 b, His lady..had made redy a right fayr baygne. 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits xv. (1596) 284 The baigne must consist of water fresh and warme. 1614 Chapman Odyss. x. 567 My men, In Circes house, were all, in several bain, Studiously sweeten'd. a 1641 Bp. R. Montagu Acts & Mon. 306 [They] had caused a bane of warmed oyle to be provided for him. |
| fig. 1563 Myrr. for Mag. Induct. lxvii, And bathed him in the bayne Of his sonnes blud before the altare slayne. |
b. The vessel in which this water is held.
| 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W.) ii. 273 a/1 He axed of hym yf he had ony bayne wherin he myghte wasshe hym. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. cccciv. 702 The cradell wherein the erle was kept..and a fayre bayne wherein he was wont to be bayned. 1543 Recorde Gr. Arts (1640) 400 He chanced to enter into a Baine full of water to wash him. |
c. abstractly, An act of bathing, a bath.
| 1483 Caxton Esope 2 b, Chargyng hym to kepe them tyl he..retourned fro his bayne. 1563 B. Googe Eglogs (Arb.) 116 Pryncely Nymphes accompanyed Diana in her Baynes. |
2. A room or building fitted up for bathing, having hot baths, etc.; a public bath; = bagnio 1.
| 1494 Fabyan v. cxxv. 106 Whan he came out of his stewe or bayne. 1530 Palsgr. 182 Vnes estevues, a hote house or a bayne. 1540 R. Hyrde Vives' Instr. Chr. Wom. (1592) U iij, That rude and uncomly manner..that men and their wives shal wash both together in one bane. 1606 Holland Sueton. 216 He passed through a crosse lane to the Baines for to bath. 1693 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. 197 Bain or Bath, Balneum. |
3. A spring of hot or medicinal water.
| 1538 Leland Itin. II. 66 The Colour of the Water of the Baynes is as it were a depe Blew Se Water. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. i. 557 Buxton, that of great name shalt be for hote and holsome baine. 1655 Digges Compl. Ambass. 136 Gone to Arragon, to certain Baynes there, for her health. |
4. in pl. Stews; = bagnio n. 3.
| 1541 Elyot Image Gov. (1549) 6 In common baines and bordell houses. 1599 Bp. Hall Sat. vi. i. 27 As pure as olde Labulla from the baynes. |
5. Chem. An apparatus for heating through the medium of water, sand, etc., more gradually than by direct exposure to fire. Cf. bath.
| 1477 Norton Ord. Alch. v. in Ashm. (1652) 62 Baines maie helpe and cause also destruction. 1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden xxxvi, It has been bathed well in the bain or stove. |
6. Comb., as bain keeper.
| 1569 J. Sandford Agrippa's Van. Artes 107 b, Likewise Barbars, Bainekepers, and Shepherdes. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 174 (R.) Taking no pleasure nor delight in the world..no more than the bain-keeper's poor asse. |
▪ III. † bain, v. Obs.
Forms: 5 baygne, 5–6 bayn(e, 7 baigne, 6–7 bain(e.
[a. F. baigne-r (= Pr. banhar, Sp. bañar, It. bagnare):—L. balneāre, f. balneum bath.]
1. trans. and refl. To bathe or wash; to drench.
| 1398 Trevisa Barth De P.R. vi. x. (1495) 195 The myd⁓wyfe..baynyth hym with salte and hony to comforte his lymmes. 1474 Caxton Chesse ii. iv. 32 Whan the knyhtes ben maad they ben bayned or bathed. 1577 Hanmer Anc. Eccl. Hist. (1619) 50 John the Apostle..to baine himself, entred into a bath. 1602 Carew Cornwall 108 b, To baigne them..with a worse perfume. |
b. fig. or rhet.
| 1491 Caxton Vitas Patr. (W. de W.) i. lxvi. 115 a/2 His body was alle bayned and bydewed in teres and water. 1557 Earl of Surrey in Tottell Misc. (Arb.) 5 Salt teares doe bayne my brest. a 1652 J. Vicars in Farr S.P. (1848) 124 Haile-stones he rained, And with feirce flames of fire them bained. |
2. intr. (for refl.) To bathe oneself. lit. and fig.
| 1483 Caxton Gold. Leg. 164/4 Ne neuer rasour touched his heed ne he neuer baygned. c 1500 Love Song in Halliwell Nugæ Poet. 68 In gladnesse I swym and baine. 1573 Twyne æneid. xi. K k j b, The launce..in virgins blood doth bayne. |
▪ IV. bain
obs. form of bane; north. dial. f. bone.