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 Henry Yule
A circle in or, i. e., gold, representing the gold coin called bezant.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Noah Webster
The lands I will take and devote the sum of them as you desire—yes, to the last bezant.
From The Brethren by Henry Rider Haggard
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 Charles William Chadwick Oman
Not a bezant of which I have the bequeathing.
From The Path of the King by John Buchan
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
