basil

• (Received Pronunciation, Canada, Australia, NZ) IPA^(key): /ˈbæz.əl/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

  • Rhymes: -æzəl
  • Homophone: Basil
• (Canada, US) IPA^(key): /ˈbeɪ.zəl/
  • Rhymes: -eɪzəl

Inherited from Middle English basile, from Middle French basile, from Old French basile, from Medieval Latin basilicum, from Ancient Greek βασιλικόν (basilikón, “royal”), from βασιλεύς (basileús, “king”). Doublet of basilic, basilicon, and basilicum; further related to basileus, basilean, and basileiolatry.

basil (usually uncountable, plural basils)

2. A plant (Ocimum basilicum).

   Synonyms: sweet basil, St. Joseph's wort, common basil, American dittany, great basil

4. The leaves of this plant used as a herb.

   Synonym: sweet basil

5. Any other species in the genus Ocimum.

• → Indonesian: basil

• basil on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Ocimum on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Category:Ocimum on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

Variant of bezel.

basil (plural basils)

1. The angle to which a joiner's tool is ground away.
   • 1678 April 11 – May 11 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Moxon, “Numb[er] IV. The Art of Joynery.”, in Mechanick Exercises, or The Doctrine of Handy-Works, […], volume I, London: […] Joseph Moxon, published 1678, →OCLC, § 10 (Of Grinding and Whetting the Iron, and Other Edge-tools), pages 71–72:

     [H]old the edge of your Iron upvvards in your left hand and your VVhet-ſtone in your right, and having firſt ſpit upon your Stone to vvet it, apply it to the Baſil of your Iron, in ſuch a Poſition that it may bear upon the vvhole bredth of the Baſil; and ſo vvorking the Stone over the Baſil, you vvill quickly vvear the courſer grating of the Grind ſtone off the edge on that ſide: […]

basil (third-person singular simple present basils, present participle basilling or basiling, simple past and past participle basilled or basiled)

2. (transitive) To grind the edge of a tool to an acute angle.
   • 1972, Alex W[inkler] Bealer, “Chiseling”, in Old Ways of Working Wood, Barre, Mass.: Barre Publishing Company, Inc., published March 1976 (2nd printing), →ISBN, page 148:

     These usually large chisels may have the edge basiled on either the inside or the outside of the 90° angle of the blade.

• bevel, sharpen

Corrupted from English basan, from French basane, from Late Latin basanium, from Arabic بِطانَة (biṭāna, “lining”).

basil (plural basils)

1. The skin of a sheep tanned with bark.
   • 1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861:

     Each sleeper has for covering a large basil (dressed sheep-skin), such as cobblers use for aprons. As they lie in long rows, in the most profound repose, with these dark brown wrappers about them, they present the uniform look and arrangement of a long line of mummies.

• basan, bazil

From Old French basile (“basilisk”).

basil (plural basils)

1. (obsolete) A type of cannon.
2. (now historical, archaic) A fetter fastened round the ankle of a prisoner.
   • 2001, Richard Flanagan, Gould's Book of Fish, Vintage, published 2016, page 49:

     When I once more feel that sharp smarting around the scabby sores that cluster like so many oysters on my ankles beneath my chained iron basils, I know that the tide has turned.

• sabil, Sibal, Blais, Salib, Bails, labis, Balis, Blasi, bails

• IPA^(key): [ˈbasɪl]
• Hyphenation: ba‧sil

From Dutch bacil, from French bacille, from German Bazillus or translingual Bacillus, coined by Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg.

basil

1. bacillus

From English basil, from Old French basile, from Medieval Latin basilicum, from Ancient Greek βασιλικόν (basilikón, “royal”), from βασιλεύς (basileús, “king”).

basil

1. basil (Ocimum basilicum)

   Synonym: selasih

• “basil” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Compare Hanunoo basol and Cebuano basol.

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈbasil/ [ˈbaː.sɪl]
• Rhymes: -asil
• Syllabification: ba‧sil

basil (Baybayin spelling ᜊᜐᜒᜎ᜔) (now dialectal, chiefly Quezon)

1. caterpillar

   Synonyms: higad, tilas, (Cavite, Rizal) simutsang, (Cavite) mutsang-mutsang, (dialectal, Quezon) alibasoy, katerpilar

• “basil”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018
• Manuel, E. Arsenio (1971) A Lexicographic Study of Tayabas Tagalog of Quezon Province, Quezon City: Diliman Review, page 70
• Noceda, Fr. Juan José de, Sanlucar, Fr. Pedro de (1860) Vocabulario de la lengua tagala, compuesto por varios religiosos doctos y graves‎^[1] (in Spanish), Manila: Ramirez y Giraudier
• Santos, Fr. Domingo de los (1835) Tomas Oliva, editor, Vocabulario de la lengua tagala: primera, y segunda parte.‎^[2] (in Spanish), La imprenta nueva de D. Jose Maria Dayot