/bas"kyoohl/ , n. Civ. Engin.
a device operating like a balance or seesaw, esp. an arrangement of a movable bridge (bascule bridge) by which the rising floor or section is counterbalanced by a weight.
[ 1670-80; F: name for a number of seesawlike mechanical devices, MF bacule, n. deriv. of baculer to strike on the buttocks (prob. orig., to land on one's buttocks), equiv. to bas down (see BASE 2 ) + -culer, v. deriv. of cul rump, buttocks (see CULET); -s- by false analysis as bas ( se ) adj. + cule taken as a fem. n. ]