Bassinet
//ˌbæsɪˈnɛt// noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A newborn baby's bed, traditionally woven with reeds or straw; a (wicker) cradle.
"The next day, the baby sleeps in a bassinet near my bed."
- 2 Alternative form of bascinet. alt-of, alternative
"Bassinets were worn in the reigns of Edward II. and III. and Richard II. by most of the English Infantry, as may be repeatedly seen in the Rolls of Parliament, and other public records."
- 3 a basket (usually hooded) used as a baby's bed wordnet
- 4 a perambulator that resembles a bassinet wordnet
Example
More examples"Tom put the baby in the bassinet."
Etymology
From French bassinet (“small basin”), equivalent to basin + -et. Ernest Klein, however, suggests derivation from French bercelonnette (“cradle”), with influence from bassin(et), to account for the English sense.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.