bezant
Americannoun
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Also bezzant the gold solidus of the Byzantine Empire, widely circulated in the Middle Ages.
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Also byzant (in Romanesque architecture) any of a number of disklike ornaments, similar in form to the classical patera, used especially on the faces of archivolts.
noun
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a medieval Byzantine gold coin
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architect an ornament in the form of a flat disc
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heraldry a small gold circle
Etymology
Origin of bezant
1150–1200; Middle English besant < Old French < Latin byzantius (nummus) “Byzantine (coin)”
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Carlyon of Cornwall bore sable, between three towers ... a bezant.
From The Curiosities of Heraldry by Lower, Mark Antony
He went to market to buy sheep, and had two for a bezant.
From Italian Popular Tales by Crane, Thomas Frederick
They spent the next three months in endeavouring to wring out of their triumphant protégés, Isaac and Alexius, every bezant that could be scraped together.
From The Byzantine Empire by Oman, Charles William Chadwick
There were moneys of various nations, even to the Spanish pistole and Turkish bezant.
From Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 2 by Roby, John
After they had used up everything they could find, a mere piece of bread cost a bezant.
From The Deeds of God Through the Franks by Levine, Robert
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
