Basel

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A major city in Switzerland known for its cultural institutions and historic architecture, located at the borders of France and Germany
2. An important center of politics, art, and education, with a diverse population and many festivals
3. Renowned for its contributions to the pharmaceutical industry and hosting international institutions like the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision

Etymology: Basel is a city in northwestern Switzerland, on the Rhine where the country meets France and Germany, and its name reached English as an unadapted borrowing from German. In German the city is "Basel," and English speakers have kept that spelling rather than translating or reshaping it, so the word looks and sounds much as it does in the local language. The name itself is much older than any modern institution. It is a place name, and the city's connection to the pharmaceutical industry and to bodies such as the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is a later development that attaches to the place rather than to the word's origin. The name therefore carries the identity of a specific city, and any sense of its industrial or financial reputation comes from what the city came to host.