bezant

American  

[bez-uhnt, bih-zant] / ˈbɛz ənt, bɪˈzænt /

Also besant

noun

1. Also bezzant the gold solidus of the Byzantine Empire, widely circulated in the Middle Ages.

2. 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.

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bezant British  

/ ˈbɛzənt, bɪˈzænt /

noun

1. a medieval Byzantine gold coin

2. architect an ornament in the form of a flat disc

3. heraldry a small gold circle

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Etymology

Origin of bezant

1150–1200; Middle English besant < Old French < Latin byzantius (nummus) “Byzantine (coin)”

Example Sentences

And all the while they are so light that ten bezants' worth does not weigh one golden bezant.

From The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Yule, Henry

The lands I will take and devote the sum of them as you desire—yes, to the last bezant.

From The Brethren by Haggard, Henry Rider

Why doesn't a man who bears party per bend gules and or, a bezant and crab counterchanged," cried Rastignac, "display that ancient escutcheon of Picardy on the panels of a carriage?

From Secrets of the Princesse de Cadignan by Balzac, Honoré de

Wherefore the liang in relation to gold would be worth 120_d._ or 10_s._, a little over the Venetian ducat and somewhat less than the bezant or dínár.

From The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Yule, Henry

Carlyon of Cornwall bore sable, between three towers ... a bezant.

From The Curiosities of Heraldry by Lower, Mark Antony