βασιλική

Forms

βασιλική (basilikḗ) f (genitive βασιλικῆς); first declension; the feminine of βασιλικός (basilikós) used as a noun.^[1][2]

Etymology

It is from Ancient Greek βασιλικός (basilikós, “royal, kingly”), its feminine used as a noun with a feminine noun understood: τέχνη (tékhnē, “art”) for “the art of ruling”, ἀρχή (arkhḗ, “rule”) for royal power, στοά (stoá, “portico”) for a hall.^[2][1][3][4]

The building sense goes back, in Babiniotis's account, to the Athenian royal portico, where the archon called the king presided over trials; the classical name of that portico was the βασίλειος (basíleios, “royal”) portico, and the Hellenistic phrase βασιλικὴ στοά (basilikḕ stoá) replaced it.^[5][3] The Romans took the word over as Latin basilica.^[5][3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

In classical prose it means the art of ruling, in Xenophon, and royal power or the king's portico in Plato.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Andronicus of Rhodes still uses it for the art of ruling.^[7] Greek writers on Rome call the Roman basilicas βασιλικὴ στοά, or simply στοά, and Plutarch uses the noun alone for such a building.^[8][2] The Roman basilica was a covered hall beside the forum that served as a law court and a meeting place for merchants.^[8][6] In Christian times the Latin word came to mean a church.^[6]

Babiniotis traces the plan of Christian churches of this type, which appear from 312, to these halls.^[5] Modern Greek uses βασιλική (vasilikí) as a learned word for a church of this plan: an oblong building divided lengthwise by columns or piers into aisles and ending in an apse.^[9][4]

Timeline

• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it for the art of ruling.^[2][10]
• 5th–4th century BC – Plato uses it for royal power and for the portico of the king archon.^[2][10]
• 1st century BC – Andronicus of Rhodes uses it for the art of ruling.^[7][10]
• 1st–2nd century AD – Plutarch uses it of a Roman basilica.^[2][10]
• Modern Greek – The learned word βασιλική (vasilikí) names a church built on the basilica plan.^[9][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. The art of ruling (with τέχνη (tékhnē) understood).^[7][2][1]
2. Royal power, hereditary monarchy.^[2][3]
3. The portico of the king archon at Athens (with στοά (stoá) understood).^[2][1]
4. (Koine) A public hall, a Roman basilica, used as a law court and exchange.^[2][1][8]

Related words

• βασιλικός (basilikós)
• βασιλεύς (basileús)
• Latin basilica
• English basilica

References

1. ^ a b c d e Korinthios, J. (2025), Grande Dizionario Greco Classico: Greco–Italiano, digital ed., Milan: Hoepli
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Дворецкий, И. Х. (1958), Древнегреческо-русский словарь, Moscow: ГИС
3. ^ a b c d Βικιλεξικό, the Greek Wiktionary, https://el.wiktionary.org
4. ^ a b Τεγόπουλος, Γ.; Φυτράκης, Ε. (1997), Μείζον Ελληνικό Λεξικό, Athens: Αρμονία
5. ^ a b c d Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
6. ^ a b c Cancik, Hubert; Schneider, Helmuth, eds. (2002–2010), Brill's New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World, Leiden: Brill
7. ^ a b c Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ a b c Smith, William; Wayte, William; Marindin, G. E., eds. (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, 3rd ed., London: John Murray
9. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
10. ^ a b c d Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge