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.
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
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
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
A circle in or, i. e., gold, representing the gold coin called bezant.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Webster, Noah
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.
