English Explanatory Dictionary

basin

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A wide bowl for washing, sometimes affixed to a wall.
  2. A shallow bowl used for a single serving of a drink or liquidy food.
  3. A depression, natural or artificial, containing water.
  4. An area of land from which water drains into a common outlet; drainage basin.
  5. A shallow depression in a rock formation, such as an area of down-folded rock that has accumulated a thick layer of sediments, or an area scooped out by water erosion.
verb
  1. To create a concavity or depression in.
  2. To serve as or become a basin.
  3. To shelter or enclose in a basin.
name
  1. A census-designated place in Jefferson County, Montana.
  2. A town, the county seat of Big Horn County, Wyoming.

Pronunciation

bā'sən /ˈbeɪs(ə)n/ en-us-basin.ogg

Word forms

basin basins bason basining basinning basined basinned

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Celtic *baskis Gaulish *baskisder. Vulgar Latin bacca Vulgar Latin *baccinum Old French bacinbor. Middle English basyn English basin From Middle English basyn, from Old French bacin, from Vulgar Latin *baccinum (“wide bowl”).

Synonyms

sink

Related words

Basin in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Derived words

Amazon Basin Badwater Basin basinal basin and range topography basin cut basinful basinless basinlike basin of attraction basinward basinwide canal basin catch-basin catchment basin Chad Basin debris basin detention basin drainage basin Foxe basin handbasin infiltration basin interbasin intrabasin Judith Basin County macrobasin Mediterranean basin metabasin model basin multibasin oceanic basin palaeobasin paleobasin pudding-basin pudding basin pudding basin haircut receiving basin recharge basin retarding basin retention basin river basin sedimentary basin ship model basin slop-basin subbasin sugar basin Tarim Basin The Basin tidal basin washbasin washhand-basin
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