Etymology Dictionary

BASIL (1),  a kind of plant.  (F.,—Gk.)   'Basil, herb, basilica;' Levins, 124. 7.   Spelt basill in Cotgrave.   It is short for basilic, the last syllable being dropped.—F. basilic, 'the herb basill;' Cot.—Lat. basilicum, neut. of basilicus, royal.—Gk. βασιλικός, royal; from Gk. βασιλεύς, a king.   ¶ The G. name königskraut, i.e. king's wort, records the same notion. [†]

BASIL (2),  a bevelled edge; see Bezel.

ADDENDA

BASIL (1).   Not (F.,—Gk.), but (F.,—L.,—Gk.).

BASIL (3), the hide of a sheep tanned.   (F.,—Span.,—Arab.)   Halliwell gives bassell  lether, mentioned in the Brit. Bibliographer, by Sir E. Bridges (1810), ii. 399.   The form is corrupt, l being put for n; Johnson observes that a better spelling is basen.   The Anglo-French form is bazene, bazeyne, Liber Custumarum, pp. 83, 84; also bazain, bazein, Gloss. to Liber Albus.—O.F. basanne, given by Palsgrave as the equivalent of a 'schepskynne towed,' i.e. a tawed sheep-skin; bazane, Cotgrave; mod. F. basane.—Span. badana, a dressed sheep skin.—Arab. bitánat, the [inner] lining of a garment; Rich. Dict. p. 276; because basil-leather was used for lining leathern garments.—Arab. root batana, to cover, hide (Freytag).   Cf. Arab. batn, the belly, interior part, Rich. Dict. p. 277; Heb. beten (spelt with teth), the belly.   See Littré; also Devic, Supplement to Littré; and Engelmann.