basilar

English

Alternative forms

• basilary

Etymology

Borrowing from New Latin basilāris, irregularly from basis (“a pedestal, foot, base”) +‎ -āris (“-ar, -ary”, adjectival suffix); or from French basilaire, from base (“base, basis”) +‎ -aire (“-ar, -ary”, adjectival suffix), in the pattern of cimbalaire (“cymbal-shaped”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbas.ɪl.ə/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbæz.əl.ɚ/, /ˈbæs.əl.ɚ/, /ˈbeɪ.zəl.ɚ/, /ˈbeɪ.səl.ɚ/
• Rhymes: -æsɪlə(ɹ), -æzɪlə(ɹ)

Adjective

basilar (not comparable)

1. (anatomy, relational) Of, pertaining to, or located at a base, but especially at the base of the skull or an organ of Corti.
2. Lower, inferior, base.
   • 1883, Henry Ward Beecher, “What is the Bible?”, in Plymouth Pulpit: A Weekly Publication of Sermons Preached by Henry Ward Beecher in Plymouth Church Brooklyn‎, volume 6, number 17, page 343:

     […] that which he has in common with the lion, the cow and the horse—namely, the basilar instincts and appetites that in the animal creation constitute the whole.

Synonyms

• basal

Derived terms

• basilar artery
• basilar crest
• basilar groove
• basilar index
• basilar lamina
• basilar membrane
• basilar meningitis
• bibasilar
• cervicobasilar
• parietobasilar
• petrobasilar
• pharyngobasilar
• suprabasilar
• tribasilar
• ventrobasilar
• vertebrobasilar
• vomerobasilar

Translations

of, pertaining to, or located at a base

Chinese: Mandarin: 基底的 (zh) (jīdǐ de) Spanish: basilar (es)

References

• “basilar”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “basilar”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.