A plant or substance believed to repel or harm beasts; an archaic or folklore term for an herb with supposed protective or destructive properties against animals.
Compound of 'beast' and 'bane' (meaning poison or ruin); from Old English and medieval herbalism traditions where plants were named for their supposed effects on animals.
Medieval herbals are full of optimistic names like 'beastbane'—people attributed magical protective powers to plants based on folklore, and the names stuck even after the supposed magical properties were disproven.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.