How to pronounce basin
American English pronunciation
BAY-sin
- IPA
- /ˈbeɪsɪn/
- Syllables
- BAY · sin (2 syllables, stress on the 1st)
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What basin means
Most people know basin in its everyday sense. Here's its other meaning.
The land that drains into one river and its streams
In a sentence: Rain that falls anywhere in the river's basin ends up flowing past our town.
Where it comes from: It comes through Old French from a Latin word for a wide bowl. The river meaning grew from the same word, since the low land gathers water the way a bowl does.
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