basilisk是什么意思

英文词源

basilisk

basilisk: [14] Greek basilískos meant literally ‘little king’ – it was a diminutive of basiléus ‘king’, source also of English basil [15] (probably from the herb’s use by the Greeks in certain royal potions) and of English basilica [16] (a church built originally on the plan of a royal palace). The Greeks used it for a ‘goldcrested wren’, but also for a type of serpent, and it is this latter use which developed into the fabulous monster of classical and medieval times, whose breath and glance could kill. The name was said by Pliny to be based on the fact that the basilisk had a crown-shaped mark on its head.
=> basil, basilica

basilisk (n.)

c. 1300, from Latin basiliscus, from Greek basiliskos "little king," diminutive of basileus "king" (see Basil); said by Pliny to have been so called because of a crest or spot on its head resembling a crown.

The basilisk has since the fourteenth century been confused with the Cockatrice, and the subject is now a complicated one. [T.H. White, "The Bestiary. A Book of Beasts," 1954]

Its breath and glance were said to be fatal. The South American lizard so called (1813) because it, like the mythical beast, has a crest. Also used of a type of large cannon, throwing shot of 200 lb., from 1540s.