Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- Also bezzant. the gold solidus of the Byzantine Empire, widely circulated in the Middle Ages.
- Also byzant. (in Romanesque architecture) any of a number of disklike ornaments, similar in form to the classical patera, used especially on the faces of archivolts.
noun
- a medieval Byzantine gold coin
- architect an ornament in the form of a flat disc
- heraldry a small gold circle
gold coin, c.1200, from Old French besant (12c.), from Latin byzantius, short for Byzantius nummus “coin of Byzantium.”