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.
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
She made no reply, but took from a pocket a bezant, and contrived to throw its yellow gleam in the sentinel's eyes.
From The Prince of India — Volume 02 by Wallace, Lewis
There were moneys of various nations, even to the Spanish pistole and Turkish bezant.
From Traditions of Lancashire, Volume 2 by Roby, John
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
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.
