basil
/ˈbæz.əl/US/ˈbeɪ.zəl/
basil noun: a plant (Ocimum basilicum).
Noun (1)
basil (usually uncountable, plural basils)
- A plant (Ocimum basilicum).
- Synonyms:
- sweet basil, St. Joseph's wort, common basil, American dittany, great basil
- The leaves of this plant used as a herb.
- Synonyms:
- sweet basil
- Any other species in the genus Ocimum.
Noun (2)
basil (plural basils)
- The angle to which a joiner's tool is ground away.
- [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...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...
Verb
basil (third-person singular simple present basils, present participle (US) basiling or (UK) basilling, simple past and past participle (US) basiled or (UK) basilled)
- To grind the edge of a tool to an acute angle.
- These usually large chisels may have the edge basiled on either the inside or the outside of the 90° angle of the blade.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
Noun (3)
basil (plural basils)
- The skin of a sheep tanned with bark.
- 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.1851, Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, published 1861
Noun (4)
basil (plural basils)
- A type of cannon.
- A fetter fastened round the ankle of a prisoner.
- 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.2001, Richard Flanagan, Gould's Book of Fish, Vintage, published 2016, page 49
Noun (5) capitalized: BASIL
BASIL (uncountable)
- Acronym of biphasic acid scavenging utilising ionic liquids.
Proper noun capitalized: Basil
Basil
- A male given name from Ancient Greek, in quiet but steady use in the UK.
- "Nonsense. I'm sure he can't have grey hair with such a pretty name as that. Basil Brooke, Basil Brooke," and May chanted the name over and over in her girlish, musical voice. "It sounds like all sorts of pleasant pictures. - -1866, Eliza Tabor Stephenson, Hester's Sacrifice, volume II, Hust and Blackett, page 28
basil meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
basil in Hindi
- plant
- मीठा तुलसी mīṭhā tulsī
- herb
- मीठा तुलसी mīṭhā tulsī
basil in Marathi
- plant
- तुळस tuḷas
- herb
- तुळस tuḷas
basil in Urdu
- plant
- تلسی tulsī
- herb
- تلسی tulsī
basil in Bengali
- herb
- সাদা তুলসী śada tulośi, বাবুই তুলসী babui tulośi, দুলাল তুলসী dulal tulośi, গুলাল gulal
More languagesFewer languages
- basil in Telugu
- తులసి tulasi
- basil in Punjabi
- ਤੁਲਸੀ tulasī, ਨਿਆਜ਼ਬੋ niāzabo
- basil in Tagalog
- albahaka, balanoy, solasi
- basil in Arabic
- رَيْحَان rayḥān, حَبَق ḥabaq
- basil in Malay
- selasih
- basil in Persian
- ریحان reyhân, شاهسپرم šâhesparam
- basil in Thai
- กะเพรา gà-prao
- basil in Vietnamese
- húng tây
- basil in Myanmar
- ပင်စိမ်းမွှေး pangcim:hmwe:, ပင်စိမ်း pangcim:
Examples of basil in a sentence
- The soup had just a whisper of basil.
- Tomatoes and basil are popular ingredients in pasta sauces.
- Your basil is doing well, you must be green-fingered.
Synonyms of basil
- sweet basil
- St. Joseph's wort
- common basil
- American dittany
- great basil
- bevel
- sharpen
- basan
- bazil
Forms of basil
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | basils |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | basils |
| present participle US | basiling |
| present participle UK | basilling |
| past participle US | basiled |
| past US | basiled |
| past participle UK | basilled |
| past UK | basilled |
Origin of basil
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.
Variant of bezel.
Corrupted from English basan, from French basane, from Late Latin basanium, from Arabic بِطانَة (biṭāna, “lining”).
Words formed from basil
- Basilian
- Asian basil
- basil balm
- basiled
- basil thyme
- basilweed
- common basil
- field basil
- hoary basil
- holy basil
- Lao basil
- lemon basil
- purple basil
- sweet basil
- Thai basil
- wild basil
Phrases with basil
Words that rhyme with basil
Questions about basil
- What does basil mean?
- Basil means a plant (Ocimum basilicum).
- What is basil in Hindi?
- Basil in Hindi is मीठा तुलसी (mīṭhā tulsī). See Basil meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is basil?
- Basil can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce basil?
- Basil is pronounced /ˈbæz.əl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of basil?
- The plural of basil is basils.
Words near basil in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: basil (page history and authors); BASIL (page history and authors); Basil (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-basil.ogg.
Cite this entry: “basil.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/basil. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.