basilisk
/ˈbæzɪlɪsk/
basilisk noun: a mythical snake-like dragon, so venomous that even its gaze is deadly.
Noun
basilisk (plural basilisks)
- A mythical snake-like dragon, so venomous that even its gaze is deadly.
- the deadly look of the basilisk
- The queſtion is in vvhat part of this Serpent the poyſon doth lye; Some ſay in the head alone, and that therefore the Bazeliske is deafe, bycauſe the Ayre vvhich ſerueth the Organe of hearing, is reſolued by the intenſiue calidity: but this ſeemeth not to bee true, […]1608, Edward Topsell, “Of the Cockatrice”, in The Historie of Serpents. Or, The Second Booke of Liuing Creatures: […], London: […] William Jaggard, →OCLC, page 124
- Synonyms:
- cockatrice
- A type of dragon used in heraldry.
- Any tree-dwelling lizard of the genus Basiliscus: the basilisk lizard.
- As a guide to start your collection we'd suggest either iguanas, tejus, swifts, basilisks, horned toads or alligator lizards.1965 March, Boys' Life, page 52
- A type of large brass cannon.
- Awake ye men of Memphis, heare the clange / Of Scythian trumpets, heare the Baſiliſkes, / That roaring, ſhake Damaſcus turrets downe, […]c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC...
- An infohazard or cognitohazard, especially a Langford's basilisk.
- A basilisk, in this context, is information that can hurt you simply because you are aware of it.2019 June 13, Tom Chivers, The AI Does Not Hate You, Orion Publishing Group, →ISBN
Adjective
basilisk (not comparable)
- Suggesting a basilisk (snake-like dragon): baleful, spellbinding.
- Well, She is so basilisk; there's no death in her eyes […]1870, The British drama: illustrated, volume 4, page 997
- her gaze became more basilisk in its expression, and her countenance bore some similitude to that of a handsome fiend1884, M. L. O'Byrne, Ill-won Peerages, Or, An Unhallowed Union, page 126
basilisk meaning in Tagalog, Arabic, Malay and Persian
basilisk in Tagalog
- snake-like dragon type
- basilisko
basilisk in Arabic
- snake-like dragon type
- بَاسِلِيق bāsilīq, باسيليق bāsīlīq
- type of lizard (genus Basiliscus)
- بَازِيلِيسْق bāzīlīsq
basilisk in Malay
- snake-like dragon type
- basilisk
basilisk in Persian
- snake-like dragon type
- شاهمار šâhmâr
Examples of basilisk in a sentence
- If Wissenkunst is itself turned into political apologetics, then the fabulous plumed serpent is turned into a monster, a basilisk.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London...
- He had never seen her quite like this, so basilisk, so frightening2004, Witi Tame Ihimaera, Whanau II, page 167:
Synonyms of basilisk
Forms of basilisk
| plural | basilisks |
|---|---|
| alternative form | basilisc |
Origin of basilisk
From Middle English basilicke, borrowed from Old French basilique, from Latin basiliscus, from Ancient Greek βασιλίσκος (basilískos, literally “minor king or chieftain”), from βασιλεύς (basileús, “king”), possibly based on descriptions or rare encounters with different types of cobra which have crown-like patterns on their head; the 'deadly gaze' may have been from the spitting cobra's ability to spit venom into the eyes of predators or prey from a distance. The infohazard sense is a figurative reference to the deadly gaze of the mythical creature. Displaced native Old English fāgwyrm.
Words formed from basilisk
Phrases with basilisk
Questions about basilisk
- What does basilisk mean?
- Basilisk means a mythical snake-like dragon, so venomous that even its gaze is deadly.
- What is basilisk in Tagalog?
- Basilisk in Tagalog is basilisko. See Basilisk meaning in Tagalog.
- How do you use basilisk in a sentence?
- If Wissenkunst is itself turned into political apologetics, then the fabulous plumed serpent is turned into a monster, a basilisk.
- What part of speech is basilisk?
- Basilisk can be a noun or an adjective.
- How do you pronounce basilisk?
- Basilisk is pronounced /ˈbæzɪlɪsk/.
- What is the plural of basilisk?
- The plural of basilisk is basilisks.
Words near basilisk in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: basilisk (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-us-basilisk.ogg.
Cite this entry: “basilisk.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/basilisk. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.