basil

See also Basil

English

Wikipedia

Ocimum basilicum

Pronunciation

• (North America) 1: IPA: /ˈbæzˌəl/
• Rhymes: -æzəl
• (North America) 2: IPA: /ˈbeɪzˌəl/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -eɪzəl
• (RP) IPA: /ˈbæzˌəl/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æzəl

Etymology 1

From Old French basile, from Medieval Latin basilicum, from Ancient Greek βασιλικόν (basilikon, “royal”), from βασιλεύς (basileus, “king”).

Noun

basil (usually uncountable; plural basils)

1. A plant (Ocimum basilicum).
2. The leaves of this plant used as a herb.

Synonyms

• (plant): albahaca, St. Joseph's wort, sweet basil

Translations

plant

• Albanian: borzilok (sq) m
• Arabic: الحبق (ar) (al-ħábaq) m
• Bulgarian: босилек (bg) (bosilek) 
• Catalan: alfàbrega (ca) f, alfàbega (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 羅勒 (cmn), 罗勒 (cmn) (luólè)

• Czech: bazalka (cs) f
• Danish: basilikum (da) c
• Dutch: basilicum (nl) m, bazielkruid (nl) n, koningskruid (nl) n, basiliekruid (nl) n
• Esperanto: bazilio (eo), ocimo (eo)
• Finnish: basilika (fi)
• French: basilic (fr) m
• German: Basilikum (de)
• Greek: βασιλικός (el) (vasilikós) m 
• Hebrew: בזיליקום (he), ריחן (he)
• Hungarian: bazsalikom (hu)
• Italian: basilico (it) m
• Japanese: バジル (ja) (bajiru)
• Macedonian: босилок (mk) (bósilok) m, босилек (mk) (bósilek) m
• Maltese: ħabaq (mt)

• Marathi: तुळस (mr) (tuLas) f
• Norwegian: basilikum (no) c
• Polish: bazylia (pl) f
• Romanian: busuioc (ro) m
• Russian: базилик (ru) (bazilík) m 
• Sardinian:

  Campidanese Sardinian: affàbbica, brasìle

  Gallurese Sardinian: basgiricò

  Logudorese Sardinian: basìle, affàbbica

• Sassarese Sardinian: basìri
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: босиљак (sh) m

  Roman: bosiljak (sh) m

• Sicilian: basilicò (scn) m
• Slovak: bazalka (sk) f
• Slovene: bazilika (sl) f
• Spanish: albahaca (es) f
• Swedish: basilika (sv) c
• Tagalog: balanoy (tl)
• Thai: กะเพรา (th) (ka prao)

herb

• Arabic: الحبق (ar) (al-ħábaq) m
• Bulgarian: босилек (bg) (bosilek) 
• Chinese: trad. 羅勒, simpl. 罗勒 (luólè)
• Czech: bazalka (cs) f
• Danish: basilikum (da) c
• Dutch: basilicum (nl) m, basilicumblaadjes (nl) n
• Esperanto: bazilio (eo), ocimo (eo)
• Estonian: basiilik (et)
• Finnish: basilika (fi)
• French: basilic (fr) m
• Georgian: რეჰანი (ka) (rehani) 
• German: Basilikum (de) m
• Greek: βασιλικός (el) (vasilikós) m 
• Hebrew: בזיליקום (he), ריחן (he)
• Hungarian: bazsalikom (hu)
• Italian: basilico (it) m
• Japanese: バジル (ja) (bajiru)
• Korean: 바질 (ko) (bajil)
• Macedonian: босилок (mk) (bósilok) m, босилек (mk) (bósilek) m

• Maltese: ħabaq (mt)
• Marathi: तुळस (mr) (tuLas) f
• Norwegian: basilikum (no) c
• Polish: bazylia (pl) f
• Portuguese: manjericão (pt) m
• Romanian: busuioc (ro) m
• Russian: базилик (ru) (bazilík) m 
• Sardinian:

  Campidanese Sardinian: affàbbica, brasìle

  Logudorese Sardinian: basìle, affàbbica

• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: босиљак (sh) m

  Roman: bosiljak (sh) m

• Sicilian: basilicò (scn) m
• Slovene: bazilika (sl) f
• Spanish: albahaca (es) f
• Swedish: basilika (sv) c
• Tagalog: balanoy (tl)
• Thai: กะเพรา (th) (ka prao)

Etymology 2

Variant of bezel?

Noun

basil (plural basils)

1. The angle to which a joiner's tool is ground away.

Verb

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

1. (transitive) To grind the edge of a tool to an acute angle.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Moxon to this entry?)

Synonyms

• bevel, sharpen

Etymology 3

Corrupted from English basan, French basane, Late Latin basanium, from Arabic, properly "lining".

Noun

basil (plural basils)

1. The skin of a sheep tanned with bark.

Synonyms

• basan
• bazil

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.

Anagrams

• bails

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Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch bacil

Noun

basil

1. bacillus