Basilisk
adj, noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A mythical snake-like dragon, so venomous that even its gaze is deadly.
"the deadly look of the basilisk"
- 2 small crested arboreal lizard able to run on its hind legs; of tropical America wordnet
- 3 A type of dragon used in heraldry.
- 4 ancient brass cannon wordnet
- 5 Any tree-dwelling lizard of the genus Basiliscus: the basilisk lizard.
"As a guide to start your collection we'd suggest either iguanas, tejus, swifts, basilisks, horned toads or alligator lizards."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 (classical mythology) a serpent (or lizard or dragon) able to kill with its breath or glance wordnet
- 7 A type of large brass cannon.
"Awake ye men of Memphis, heare the clange / Of Scythian trumpets, heare the Baſiliſkes, / That roaring, ſhake Damaſcus turrets downe, […]"
- 8 An infohazard or cognitohazard, especially a Langford's basilisk.
"A basilisk, in this context, is information that can hurt you simply because you are aware of it."
- 1 Suggesting a basilisk (snake-like dragon): baleful, spellbinding. not-comparable
"Well, She is so basilisk; there's no death in her eyes […]"
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"The basilisk lizard is able to run on the surface of the water without sinking."
Etymology
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.
Related phrases
More for "basilisk"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.