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bezel

UK/ˈbɛz.əl/US/ˈbɛz.əl/
nounB2+Rare in speech; mostly a word you read · #14,953 of 15,258leans written

Other forms: bezels

A bezel is a rim of metal enclosing a stone or a watch face. The bezel of the ring, a rotating bezel, scratched the bezel.

On a diving watch it rotates one way only, so that a knock can never make a diver think they have more air left than they do. On a phone the bezel is the border round the screen, and shrinking it is the whole design story of the last decade.

Unknown artistUnknown artist · Public domain

Definitions of bezel

  1. 1nounbezelA rim of metal enclosing a stone or a watch face.B2+

    “The diamond was held in a thin gold bezel on the ring.”

bezel is a rim.

Where it comes from

French biseau means a sloping edge, which is the shape of the rim that holds a stone in place.

  1. Breton

    bisou

  2. French

    bisel

  3. English, today

    bezel

Built from

  • biseau · French — sloping edge
  • bijou · French — jewel
  • bizou · Breton — ring worn on the finger
  • biz · Breton — finger

French bisel, a dialectal variant of biseau (“sloping edge”), a variation on bijou (“jewel”), itself from Breton bisou, bizou (“ring worn on the finger”), from biz (“finger”). Unrelated to similar bevel, which is of a different French origin.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in Jewellery & Watches

Practise this word

bezel in the wild

  • The set included a new front bezel to replace the original SE bezel with that of an SE/30.

    Macintosh SE/30

  • The class ring has three main sections: the bezel, containing MIT's mascot, the beaver; the MIT seal (seal shank); and the class year (class shank).

    MIT class ring

  • Rings are normally worn to display bezels on the upper or outer side of the finger.

    Bezel

  • Modern bezel settings typically use a band of metal containing a groove and a flange (i.e. projecting lip) to hold a watch crystal or gemstone in its setting.

    Bezel

  • A bezel is the rim which encompasses and fastens a jewel, watch crystal, lens or other object.

    Bezel (disambiguation)

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.