---
title: basilisk — school dictionary · trees and pragmatics
description: «basilisk» in the school dictionary: In old fairy tales, a basilisk is a monstrous serpent or lizard whose look could kill. Every meaning for a pupil with its dependency tree and pragmatics.
---

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# basilisk

<!-- .vintro -->
**Who acts:** basilisk, look, warm places, knight, lizards · **What happens:** be, kill, run, fear, stare, guard · **To what, where:** monstrous serpent, old fairy tales, real lizard, water, deadly stare, golden

<!-- .vabout -->
«basilisk» in the school dictionary: its 2 meanings for a pupil and its 3 examples, every sentence parsed by Mova itself — its syntax tree, a dependency tree in the style of Universal Dependencies, and its pragmatics clause by clause. The word in the dictionary, with its sense in the lessons: [basilisk in the school dictionary](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/basilisk.md).

## Meaning 1 {#m1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In old fairy tales, a basilisk is a monstrous serpent or lizard whose look could kill.

<!-- fold The tree, 16 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:basilisk:m1:1
# text = In old fairy tales, a basilisk is a monstrous serpent or lizard whose look could kill.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	4	case	_	_
2	old	old	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	4	amod	_	_
3	fairy	fairy	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	compound	_	_
4	tales	tale	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	11	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
5	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	4	punct	_	_
6	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	7	det	_	_
7	basilisk	basilisk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	nsubj	_	_
8	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	11	cop	_	_
9	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	11	det	_	_
10	monstrous	monstrous	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	11	amod	_	_
11	serpent	serpent	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
12	or	or	CCONJ	CC	_	13	cc	_	_
13	lizard	lizard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	11	conj	_	_
14	whose	whose	PRON	WP$	Poss=Yes|PronType=Rel	15	nmod:poss	_	_
15	look	look	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	17	nsubj	_	_
16	could	could	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	17	aux	_	_
17	kill	kill	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	13	acl:relcl	_	SpaceAfter=No
18	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	11	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a basilisk | a monstrous serpent or lizard |  | old fairy tales |  |  | tree rules |
| 2 | **kill** | could | look |  |  |  |  |  | vn amuse-31.1 «NP V ADV-Middle»: agent=Experiencer |

<!-- .note -->
One row per clause the reader finds. «not said here»: a role filled from the clause above. «roles by»: a VerbNet class and frame when one fits the verb, else the reader's rules on the tree.

## Meaning 2 {#m2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
A basilisk is a real lizard of warm places that can run across water on its back legs.

<!-- fold The tree, 18 words -->
```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:basilisk:m2:1
# text = A basilisk is a real lizard of warm places that can run across water on its back legs.
1	A	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	basilisk	basilisk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	6	nsubj	_	_
3	is	be	AUX	VBZ	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Pres|VerbForm=Fin	6	cop	_	_
4	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
5	real	real	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	6	amod	_	_
6	lizard	lizard	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	0	root	_	_
7	of	of	ADP	IN	_	9	case	_	_
8	warm	warm	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	9	amod	_	_
9	places	place	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	6	nmod	_	_
10	that	that	PRON	WDT	PronType=Rel	12	nsubj	_	_
11	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	12	aux	_	_
12	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	9	acl:relcl	_	_
13	across	across	ADP	IN	_	14	case	_	_
14	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	12	obl	_	_
15	on	on	ADP	IN	_	18	case	_	_
16	its	its	PRON	PRP$	Case=Gen|Gender=Neut|Number=Sing|Person=3|Poss=Yes|PronType=Prs	18	nmod:poss	_	_
17	back	back	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	18	compound	_	_
18	legs	leg	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	12	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
19	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	6	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **is a** | present | a basilisk | a real lizard |  |  |  | of warm places | tree rules |
| 2 | **run** | can | warm places |  |  | water |  | on basilisk's back legs | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme across water=Trajectory |

## Example 1 {#x1}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
The knight feared the basilisk's deadly stare.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:basilisk:x1:1
# text = The knight feared the basilisk's deadly stare.
1	The	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	2	det	_	_
2	knight	knight	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	nsubj	_	_
3	feared	fear	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
4	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	5	det	_	_
5	basilisk	basilisk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	8	nmod:poss	_	SpaceAfter=No
6	's	's	PART	POS	_	5	case	_	_
7	deadly	deadly	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	8	amod	_	_
8	stare	stare	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	3	obj	_	SpaceAfter=No
9	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	3	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **fear** | past | the knight | the basilisk's deadly stare |  |  |  |  | vn admire-31.2-1 «NP V NP»: agent=Experiencer stare=Stimulus |
| 2 | **stare** |  | the basilisk |  |  |  |  |  | nom stare «act intransitive»: poss=agent |

## Example 2 {#x2}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
In the story, a basilisk guarded the golden well.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:basilisk:x2:1
# text = In the story, a basilisk guarded the golden well.
1	In	in	ADP	IN	_	3	case	_	_
2	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	3	det	_	_
3	story	story	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
4	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	3	punct	_	_
5	a	a	DET	DT	Definite=Ind|PronType=Art	6	det	_	_
6	basilisk	basilisk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	7	nsubj	_	_
7	guarded	guard	VERB	VBD	Mood=Ind|Number=Sing|Person=3|Tense=Past|VerbForm=Fin	0	root	_	_
8	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	9	det	_	_
9	golden	golden	ADJ	JJ	Degree=Pos	7	obj	_	_
10	well	well	ADV	RB	Degree=Pos	7	advmod	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	7	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **guard** | past | a basilisk | the golden |  | the story |  | well *property* | vn defend-72.3 «NP V NP»: agent=Agent golden=Beneficiary |

## Example 3 {#x3}

<!-- .ven lang=en -->
Some lizards can run on water, like the basilisk.

```conllu
# sent_id = dict:school:basilisk:x3:1
# text = Some lizards can run on water, like the basilisk.
1	Some	some	DET	DT	PronType=Ind	2	det	_	_
2	lizards	lizard	NOUN	NNS	Number=Plur	4	nsubj	_	_
3	can	can	AUX	MD	VerbForm=Fin	4	aux	_	_
4	run	run	VERB	VB	VerbForm=Inf	0	root	_	_
5	on	on	ADP	IN	_	6	case	_	_
6	water	water	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
7	,	,	PUNCT	,	_	10	punct	_	_
8	like	like	ADP	IN	_	10	case	_	_
9	the	the	DET	DT	Definite=Def|PronType=Art	10	det	_	_
10	basilisk	basilisk	NOUN	NN	Number=Sing	4	obl	_	SpaceAfter=No
11	.	.	PUNCT	.	_	4	punct	_	_
```

<!-- .fr -->
| # | verb | tense, mood | who | what, whom | to whom | where | when | other | roles by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | **run** | can | some lizards |  |  | water |  | like the basilisk | vn run-51.3.2-2-1 «NP V PP.location»: agent=Theme on water=Trajectory |

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**Text:** the school dictionary of Mova's schools (`world/data/dictionary-schools/`), written for Mova. **Trees:** Mova's own parse — the `en` model on the CPU, when the site is built — not checked by a teacher; they may be wrong. **Frames:** Mova's frames reader (`prag`), each meaning and example read on its own. Elamur Cosmic License.

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