basilisk
Suggesting a basilisk: baleful, spellbindingSuggesting a basilisk (snake-like dragon): baleful, spellbinding.
» The basilisk lizard is able to run on the surface of the water without sinking.
abburns · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(not comparable)Suggesting a basilisk (snake-like dragon): baleful, spellbinding.
Examples
2 sentencesThe basilisk lizard is able to run on the surface of the water without sinking.
Basilisks are mythological creatures.
ruВасилиски — мифические существа. — odexed
Origin
From Middle English basilicke, borrowed from Old French basilique, from Latin basiliscus,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.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.