# basil vs bast

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### basil
*noun · IPA /ˈbæz.əl/ · frequency rank #12,008*
A plant (Ocimum basilicum).

### bast
*noun · IPA /bɑːst/ · frequency rank #47,486*
Inner bark of a tree from which rope is traditionally made.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/basil-vs-bast