/
ˈbazɪlɪsk/
n.
- a mythical reptile with a lethal gaze or breath, hatched by a serpent from a cock's egg.
▸Heraldry another term for cockatrice.
- a long, slender Central American lizard, the male of which has a crest running from the head to the tail.
[Basiliscus plumifrons.]
Etymology
ME: via L. from Gk basiliskos ‘little king, serpent’, from basileus ‘king’.