basil
basil an aromatic plant of the mint family, the leaves of which are used as a culinary herb. In Keats' poem ‘Isabella, or the Pot of Basil’, based on a story in the Decameron, Isabella, whose lover has been murdered by her brothers, hides his severed head in a pot with a plant of basil over it, and mourns over it.
Recorded from late Middle English, the name comes via Old French and medieval Latin from Greek basilikos ‘royal’ (see basilica), perhaps because the plant was used in some royal unguent or medicine. In Latin, the name was confused with basiliscus, on the supposition that the plant was an antidote to the poison of a basilisk.
Recorded from late Middle English, the name comes via Old French and medieval Latin from Greek basilikos ‘royal’ (see basilica), perhaps because the plant was used in some royal unguent or medicine. In Latin, the name was confused with basiliscus, on the supposition that the plant was an antidote to the poison of a basilisk.
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basil