A wide, open container used for holding water or other liquids, often for washing. In geography, it can also mean a low area of land where water collects, such as a river basin.
It comes from Old French “bacin,” meaning a large bowl, from a medieval Latin word with similar form. The shape idea extended naturally to landforms that hold water.
A river basin is basically nature’s giant sink, catching all the water that drains into it. Once you see “basin” as just a big bowl, both the kitchen and geography meanings suddenly click together.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.