Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Basil

Bas′il (băz′ĭl), n. [Cf. F. basile and E. Bezel.] The slope or angle to which the cutting edge of a tool, as a plane, is ground. Grier.

Bas′il, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Basiled; p. pr. & vb. n. Basiling.] To grind or form the edge of to an angle. Moxon.

Bas′il, n. [F. basilic, fr. L. basilicus royal, Gr. βασιλικός fr. βασιλεύς king.] (Bot.) The name given to several aromatic herbs of the Mint family, but chiefly to the common or sweet basil (Ocymum basilicum), and the bush basil, or lesser basil (O. minimum), the leaves of which are used in cookery. The name is also given to several kinds of mountain mint (Pycnanthemum).

Basil thyme, a name given to the fragrant herbs Calamintha Acinos and C. Nepeta. — Wild basil, a plant (Calamintha clinopodium) of the Mint family.

Bas′il (băz′ĭl), n. [Corrupt. from E. basan, F. basane, LL. basanium, bazana, fr. Ar. bithāna, prop., lining.] The skin of a sheep tanned with bark.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.