LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
noun · neutersecond declension

bāsium

bāsium n (genitive bāsiī or bāsī)
Classical[ˈbaː.si.ũː]Ecclesiastical[ˈbaː.s̬i.um]
Mille Verba core vocabulary

Meaning

  1. kiss (especially of the hand)
    Iactat basia tibicen.The flautist blows kisses.15 BCE – 45 CE, Phaedrus, Fabularum Aesopiarum Libri Quinque 5.7.28
  2. poetickiss of the lips (especially in Catullus and Martial)
    dā mī bāsia mīlle, deinde centumGive me a thousand kisses, then a hundredc. 84 BCE – 54 BCE, Catullus, Carmina 5.7
    tam tē bāsia multa bāsiāreFor you to kiss so many kissesc. 84 BCE – 54 BCE, Catullus, Carmina 7.9

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

ōsculum; dā mihi bāsia mīlle!
bāsium -ī n — in Mille Verba, Convīvium

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Osculum · Suavium · Basium

Osculum is a friendly; suavium, a tender; basium, an ardent kiss. (vi. 251.)

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativebāsiumbāsia
genitivebāsiī
bāsī		bāsiōrum
dativebāsiōbāsiīs
accusativebāsiumbāsia
ablativebāsiōbāsiīs
vocativebāsiumbāsia

bāsĭum, ii, n. for sāvĭum, suavium; cf. Engl. buss; O. Germ. bus,
I. a kiss.
I. In gen. (rare and mostly poet.; most freq. in Cat.; not in Plaut. or Ter.): da mi basia mille, Cat. 5, 7; 5, 13; 7, 9; 16, 12; 99, 16; Mart. 2, 21, 1; 11, 98, 9; 12, 55, 9; 12, 59, 1; Petr. 21, 2, 110: impingere alicui, id. 21, 2, 31.—
II. Esp., a kissing of the hand: jactat basia tibicen, throws kisses of the hand, Phaedr. 5, 8, 28; so Juv. 4, 117.

Origins

Probably borrowed from Celtic, from an expressive root such as Proto-Indo-European *bu-. Compare Middle Irish pusóc (“kiss”), English buss, French bisou, German Buss (“kiss”), Polish buzia, buziak (“kiss”), Lithuanian bučiúoti (“to kiss”), Albanian buzë (“lip”), Romanian buze (“lips”), and Persian بوس (bus, “kiss”).

Descendants
  • Catalanbes
  • Italianbacio
  • Occitanbais
  • Frenchbaiserfrom Old French baisier
  • Portuguesebeijofrom Old Galician-Portuguese beijo
  • Sardinianbasu
  • Sardinianbaxu
  • Sardinianvasu
  • Spanishbeso
  • Aromanianbãshiu

Quick answers

What does bāsium mean in Latin?
bāsium, a noun, means “kiss (especially of the hand); kiss of the lips (especially in Catullus and Martial)”.
What is the genitive of bāsium?
The genitive singular is bāsiī. bāsium is neuter, second declension.
How do you pronounce bāsium?
In classical Latin, [ˈbaː.si.ũː]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [ˈbaː.s̬i.um].