bezel

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French *besel, also *bezel, an Old French form inferred from modern French biseau and bizeau,^[2][3][4][5] and compared with Spanish bisel and Portuguese bisel.^[2][3][6] Merriam-Webster takes it probably from a dialect form of the French word.^[7][8] Its origin is unknown:^[2][5][4][9] the OED suggests that it may be a diminutive of bis (“twice”) or contain that word, but rejects a derivation from Medieval Latin bisalus.^[2] Etymonline and Klein derive it from Vulgar Latin *bis-ālus (“having two angles”), from Latin bis (“twice”) and āla (“wing, side”),^[3][10] and the American Heritage Dictionary and Etymonline trace bis to Proto-Indo-European *dwo- (“two”).^[8][3] Weekley compares bevel and bias, which are close to it in sense.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

A slope or sloping edge, especially of a chisel or other cutting tool: 1611, in Cotgrave's French–English dictionary,^[2][7][3] which glosses French biseau as "a bezle, bezeling, or scuing; such a slope-nesse, or slope forme, as in the point of an yron leaver, chizle, etc.".^[11]

Semantic evolution

By 1616, in Bullokar's English Expositor, the word also named the groove and projecting lip that hold a gem in its setting,^[2] a sense that the Shorter Oxford dates to the late 16th century;^[5] it was later extended to the grooved ring or frame that holds the glass of a watch.^[2][5] The oblique faces of a cut gem, especially the small facets round the table of a brilliant, are called bezels from 1839.^[2][3] The verb, to grind a tool to an edge or to bevel, is recorded from 1680 in the current OED;^[2] its 1989 edition gives 1677, and Merriam-Webster Unabridged 1674.^[12][7] the Shorter Oxford calls it now rare.^[5] In the sense of a tool's edge the word is commonly spelled basil.^[2][5][7] Collins records newer uses for the rim round a vehicle's dials, a small indicator light on an instrument panel, and the outer frame of a computer screen or mobile phone.^[13]

Timeline

• 1611 – the sloping edge of a cutting tool.^[2][7]
• 1616 – the groove and flange that hold a gem in its setting.^[2]
• 1680 – verb, to grind a tool to an edge; to bevel.^[2] Merriam-Webster Unabridged gives 1674.^[7]
• 1839 – the oblique faces of a cut gem.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A rim that holds a transparent cover, as on a watch or a headlight, or a rotating rim with markings on a watch.^[14][7][13]
2. The grooved ring or flange that holds a gem in its setting; the top part of a ring.^[15][7][13]
3. The oblique faces of a cut gem, especially the upper facets of a brilliant between the table and the girdle.^{[15][7][2][13]}
4. The sloping edge or face of a chisel or other cutting tool.^{[15][7][2][13]}
5. The outer frame of a computer screen, mobile phone or similar device: a laptop with thin bezels.^[13]
6. A retaining rim round an instrument in a vehicle, or a small indicator light on an instrument panel.^[13]

Verb

1. To grind or cut to a sloping edge; to bevel.^[7][2][5]

Related words

• bevel

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
8. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
11. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
12. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
14. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
15. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin