Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BA'SIN, n. [ba'sn; Fr. bassin; Ir. baisin; Arm. baçzin; It. bacino, or bacile; Port. bacia. If the last radical is primarily a palatal letter, this is the German becken; D. bekken.]

1. A hollow vessel or dish, to hold water for washing, and for various other uses.
2. In hydraulics, any reservoir of water.
3. That which resembles a basin in containing water, as a pond, a dock for ships, a hollow place for liquids, or an inclosed part of water, forming a broad space within a strait or narrow entrance; a little bay; a depression in strata.
4. Among glass grinders, a concave piece of metal by which convex glasses are formed.
5. Among hatters, a large shell or case, usually of iron, placed over a furnace, in which the hat is molded into due shape.
6. In anatomy, a round cavity between the anterior ventricles of the brain.
7. The scale of a balance, when hollow and round.
8. In Jewish antiquities, the laver of the tabernacle.