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bas·ket

(băskĭt)

n. pl. baskets

a. A container made of interwoven material, such as rushes or twigs.

b. The amount that a basket can hold.

2. An item resembling such a container in shape or function.

3. A usually open gondola suspended from a hot-air balloon.

4. A group of related things, such as financial securities or products in a specific market.

5. Basketball

a. Either of the two goals normally elevated ten feet above the floor, consisting of a metal hoop from which an open-bottomed circular net is suspended.

b. A field goal.

6. Sports A usually circular or star-shaped structure at the base of a ski pole, used to prevent the pole from sinking too deeply into the snow.

[Middle English, from Anglo-Norman baschet, basket, alteration (with substitution of the original ending by -et, noun suffix) of a word akin to French dialectal bâchot, pannier, and Old French baschoe, wooden or wicker container, both ultimately from Latin bascauda, a kind of basin, of Celtic origin; akin to Middle Irish basc, neckband of beadwork, and Welsh baich, burden, load; further akin to Latin fascis, bundle.]

basket·ful′ n.

(click for a larger image)

basket

hot air ballooning

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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