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basil

ba·sil

UK/ˈbæz.əl/ US/ˈbæz.əl/ fairly common

noun

1.

any of several Old World tropical aromatic annual or perennial herbs of the genus Ocimum

2.

(Roman Catholic Church) the bishop of Caesarea who defended the Roman Catholic Church against the heresies of the 4th century; a saint and Doctor of the Church (329-379)

Synonyms
3.

leaves or the common basil; used fresh or dried

Synonyms

Origin

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.

Phrases

  • Asian basil
  • basil balm
  • basil thyme
  • common basil
  • field basil
  • hoary basil
  • holy basil
  • Lao basil

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

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Parts

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.