bezant

English

Alternative forms

• basant, besant, byzant
• bezaunt (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English besaunt, from Old French bezant, nominative bezanz, from Latin byzantius (“of Byzantium”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɛzənt/
• Rhymes: -ɛzənt

Noun

bezant (plural bezants)

1. (history) A coin made of gold or silver, minted at Byzantium and used in currency throughout mediaeval Europe.

   Synonym: solidus

2. (heraldry) A roundel or (that is, a golden circle), the heraldic representation of a gold coin.
   • 1941 December, “The Why and the Wherefore: Cornish names of G.W.R. locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 575:

     One and All is the motto of the County of Cornwall, used below the coat-of-arms, which is a shield embracing fifteen bezants, or golden roundels, on a black ground; [...].

Derived terms

• bezanted
• bezanty

 

Translations

coin minted at Byzantium

• Armenian: բյուզանդ (byuzand), բիզանտ (bizant)
• Catalan: besant (ca) m
• Czech: bezant m
• French: besant (fr) m
• Middle English: besaunt
• Old French: bezant m
• Portuguese: besante (pt) m
• Spanish: besante (es) m

heraldic representation of a gold coin

• Catalan: besant (ca) m
• Middle English: besaunt
• Portuguese: besante (pt) m, arruela (pt) f
• Spanish: besante (es) m
• Swedish: bysantin c, besant c

See also

	metals		main colours				less common colours
tincture	or	argent	gules	azure	sable	vert	purpure	tenné	orange	sanguine
depiction
roundel (in parentheses: semé):	bezant (bezanty)	plate (platy)	torteau (tortelly)	hurt (hurty)	pellet (pellety), ogress	pomme	golpe (golpy)	orange (semé of oranges)		guze (semé of guzes)
goutte (noun) / gutty (adj) thereof:	(goutte / gutty) d'or (of gold)	d'eau (of water)	de sang (of blood)	de larmes (of tears)	de poix (of pitch)	d'huile / d'olive (olive oil)
	special roundel	furs								additional, uncommon tinctures:
tincture	fountain, syke: barry wavy argent and azure	ermine	ermines, counter-ermine	erminois	pean	vair	counter-vair	potent	counter-potent	bleu celeste, brunâtre, carnation, cendrée (iron, steel, acier), copper, murrey
depiction

Anagrams

• batzen

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch besant, from Old French bezant, from Latin byzantius.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bəˈzɑnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: be‧zant
• Rhymes: -ɑnt

Noun

bezant m (plural bezanten, diminutive bezantje n)

1. bezant (coin)
2. (heraldry) bezant

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bə.zɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Homophones: besant, besants, bezants

Noun

bezant m (plural bezants)

1. bezant (coin)

Further reading

• “bezant”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Old French

Noun

bezant oblique singular, m (oblique plural bezanz or bezantz, nominative singular bezanz or bezantz, nominative plural bezant)

1. bezant (coin)