Basil (redirected from Ocimum basilicum)

basil (băz`əl), any plant of the genus Ocimum, tender herbs or small shrubs of the family Labiatae (mint family), mostly of Old World warm regions and cultivated for the aromatic leaves. The basil of Keats's "Isabella" (and of Boccaccio's story) is the common or sweet basil (O. basilicum), once considered medicinal. This is the species usually used for seasoning; it is grown commercially chiefly in the Mediterranean area. There are also the holy basil, venerated in India; the bush basil; and related plants sometimes called basil. Basil is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Lamiales, family Labiatae.

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basil

Herb consisting of the dried leaves of Ocimum basilicum, an annual herb of the mint family, native to India and Iran. The dried large-leaf varieties have a fragrant aroma faintly reminiscent of anise, with a warm, sweet, aromatic, mildly pungent flavour. The dried leaves of common basil are less fragrant and more pungent. Basil is widely grown as a kitchen herb. Tea made from basil leaves is a stimulant. The heart-shaped basil leaf is a symbol of love in Italy.

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basil

1. a Eurasian plant, Ocimum basilicum, having spikes of small white flowers and aromatic leaves used as herbs for seasoning: family Lamiaceae (labiates)

2. a European plant, Satureja vulgaris (or Clinopodium vulgare), with dense clusters of small pink or whitish flowers: family Lamiaceae

3. basil-thyme a European plant, Acinos arvensis, having clusters of small violet-and-white flowers: family Lamiaceae

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Basil

Saint, called the Great, ?329--379 ad, Greek patriarch: an opponent of Arianism and one of the founders of monasticism. Feast day: Jan 2, June 14, or Jan 1

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basil [′bāz·əlor′baz·əl]

(botany)

The common name for any of the aromatic plants in the genusOcimumof the mint family; leaves of the plant are used for food flavoring.

(materials)

Sheephide tanned with bark.

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bezel, basil

The bevel or sloping edge of a cutting tool, as an ax or chisel.

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Basil 

(Basíleios). Emperors of Byzantium:

Basil I the Macedonian. Born May 25, 836(?); died Aug. 29, 886, in Constantinople. Emperor beginning in 867; founder of the Macedonian dynasty.

Basil was of Macedonian (more accurately of Thracian) peasant origin. He made a brilliant career at the court of Emperor Michael III, and in 866 he became Michael’s coruler. After assassinating the emperor, Basil I seized the throne. Basil I conducted a policy of strengthening the centralized state. He crushed the Paulician movement. He introduced Roman law (publication in the years 870-879 of the Procheiron and the preparation of the Epanagoge). He carried on a struggle against the Arabs in the east and in Italy; with this objective he sought an alliance with Emperor Louis II, who ruled from 855 to 875, and with the papacy (Photius was deposed in 868, and Ignatius, a supporter of rapprochement with the pope, was restored to the patriarchal throne). In 886, Basil I recognized the independence of the Armenian state. Around 883-885 a conspiracy by the feudal nobility against Basil I, in which Photius turned out to be involved, was discovered.

REFERENCES

Vasil’ev, A. A. “Vizantiia i araby. … ” Zapiski istoriko-filologicheskogo fakul’teta Sankt-Peterburgskogo universiteta, 1902, part 66, pp. 5-96.
Vogt, A. Basile I-er, empereur de Byzance (867-886).… Paris, 1908.

A. P. KAZHDAN

Basil II the Bulgar-Slayer. Born 958 in Constantinople; died there on Dec. 15, 1025. Emperor beginning in 976.

Basil II crushed the revolts of the provincial landowning nobility headed by Bardas Sclerus (976-979) and Bardas Phocas (987-989). He defeated Phocas with the help of the Kievan prince Vladimir, who was married to Basil’s sister Anna. In the interests of the officials of the capital and the urban commercial-artisan elite, Basil tried to limit the growth of large secular landholdings and tried to prevent the ruin of the taxpayers—that is, the free peasantry. By the end of his rule, he had won a considerable amount of territory from the Arabs and extended the domain of the empire at the expense of Armenian and Georgian lands. After a long war with the Western Bulgarian kingdom, he subjugated it to Byzantium in 1018; for the cruelty displayed in this war, he was nicknamed the Bulgar-Slayer.

REFERENCE

Imperator Vasilii Bolgaroboitsa: Izvlechenie iz letopisi I akh” i Antiokhiiskogo. Published, translated, and explicated by V. R. Rozen. St. Petersburg, 1883.

G. G. LITAVRIN