henbane

Etymology

It is formed from English hen + bane,^[2][3][4][5] and in some forms the first element is the genitive.^[2] The first element is disputed.^[2][6] Etymonline suspects folk etymology, and quotes Brewer's objection that no such Old English compound existed and that the idea of seeds fatal to poultry was a misunderstanding.^[6] It also reports a speculative Proto-Germanic *hen in words for death, proposed as the first element.^[6] Liberman holds that view: the plant was first called henbell, and when hen- (“death”) had been forgotten the second part was replaced by the English word for murder or death, leaving a tautological "death-death"; the second part of the older name may go back to Old English belene, the Old English word for the plant.^[7] The OED, in its entry revised in 2019, answers that there is considerable evidence that the plant was named for its toxicity to domestic fowl.^[2] It cites hennewōl (“henbane, literally hen's disease”), along with Danish hønsebane (“poultry killer”), Middle French mort aux oyes (“death to geese”), regional French mort aux poules (“death to chickens”) and the older German Hühnergift (“hens' poison”) and Hühnertod (“hens' death”).^[2] It takes henbell as an earlier name and compares hendwale.^[2] Beside the English word stand Anglo-Norman hannebane, hennebane, recorded from the second half of the 12th century,^[8][2] and Middle French hanebane, from the 14th century,^[2] which led Etymonline to think of a possible Continental origin.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The plant: before 1300, in a vocabulary printed by Wright and Wülcker, according to the entry the OED revised in 2019.^[2] Liberman dates it to 1265,^[7] Etymonline to the mid 13th century,^[6] and Dictionary.com to 1250–1300,^[5] while Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives the 14th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Trevisa's late 14th-century translation of Bartholomew Glanville says of the poisonous plant: "Iusquiamus, henne bane, is mannes bane".^[6] By about 1425 it also named a drug made from the plant, used for its soporific and pain-killing effects.^[2] Johnson (1755), following Miller, described the plant's bell-shaped flower cup and two-celled fruit and called it very poisonous.^[9] Modern dictionaries define it by its chemistry too, as a source of hyoscyamine and scopolamine.^[4][10]

Timeline

• before 1300 – a poisonous plant of the genus Hyoscyamus.^[2] Liberman dates it to 1265,^[7] and Etymonline to the mid 13th century.^[6]
• perhaps before 1425 – a drug prepared from the plant.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A poisonous, foul-smelling Eurasian herb, Hyoscyamus niger, of a solanaceous kind, with sticky hairy leaves and dull yellowish flowers, a source of hyoscyamine.^[10][4][2]
2. Any plant of the genus Hyoscyamus.^[2][4]
3. A drug prepared from such a plant, used for its psychoactive, sleep-inducing and pain-relieving effects.^[2]

Word family

• black henbane

Related words

• hen
• bane
• henbell
• hendwale

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c Liberman, Anatoly (2008), An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology: An Introduction, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press
8. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins