basilica

See also: basílica

English

Basilica built by the Emperor Maxentius, Rome (ruins)

Interior of St. Francis of Assisi Basilica, Assisi

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin basilica, from Ancient Greek βᾰσῐλῐκή (basilikḗ), from βᾰσῐλῐκὴ στοά (basilikḕ stoá, “royal hall”), ultimately from βασιλικός (basilikós, “royal”), from βασιλεύς (basileús, “king, chief”). Doublet of basoche.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bəˈsɪlɪkə/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

basilica (plural basilicas or basilicae)

1. (architecture) A Christian church building having a nave with a semicircular apse, side aisles, a narthex and a clerestory.
2. A Roman Catholic church or cathedral with basilican status, an honorific status granted by the pope to recognize its historical, architectural, or sacramental importance.
3. (obsolete) An apartment provided in the houses of persons of importance, where assemblies were held for dispensing justice; hence, any large hall used for this purpose.

Derived terms

• basilical
• basilican

Translations

Christian church building having a nave

• Bulgarian: бази́лика f (bazílika)
• Catalan: basílica (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 巴西利卡 (zh) (bāxīlìkǎ), 大聖堂／大圣堂 (dàshèngtáng)

• Czech: bazilika (cs) f
• Danish: basilika c
• Dutch: basiliek (nl) f
• Esperanto: baziliko
• Estonian: basiilika
• Finnish: basilika (fi), kirkko (fi)
• French: basilique (fr) f
• German: Basilika (de) f
• Greek: βασιλική (el) f (vasilikí)
• Hungarian: bazilika (hu)
• Ido: baziliko (io)
• Indonesian: basilika (id)
• Irish: baisleac f
• Italian: basilica (it) f
• Japanese: バシリカ (bashirika), 聖堂 (ja) (せいどう, seidō)
• Latvian: bazilika f
• Lithuanian: bazilika (lt) f
• Macedonian: базилика f (bazilika)
• Malay: basilika
• Manx: ard-cheeill f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: basilika m

• Polish: bazylika (pl) f
• Portuguese: basílica (pt) f
• Romanian: bazilică (ro) f
• Russian: бази́лика (ru) f (bazílika)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: базѝлика f

  Roman: bazìlika (sh) f

• Slovak: bazilika f
• Slovene: bazilika (sl) f
• Spanish: basílica (es) f
• Swedish: basilika (sv) c
• Tagalog: basilika
• Thai: มหาวิหาร (má-hǎa-wí-hǎan)
• Turkish: bazilika (tr)

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin basilica, from Ancient Greek βασιλική (basilikḗ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌbaːˈzi.li.kaː/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ba‧si‧li‧ca

Noun

basilica f (plural basilica's, diminutive basilicaatje n)

1. basilica

Synonyms

• basiliek

Related terms

• basilicum

Italian

Etymology

Probably a borrowing from (Medieval) Latin basilica, from Ancient Greek βασιλική (basilikḗ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baˈzi.li.ka/
• Rhymes: -ilika
• Hyphenation: ba‧sì‧li‧ca

Noun

basilica f (plural basiliche)

1. basilica
2. church

Derived terms

• basilicale

See also

• chiesa
• santuario

Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βασιλική (basilikḗ), from βασιλικὴ στοά/οἰκία (basilikḕ stoá/oikía, “royal hall”), from βασιλικός (basilikós, “regal”), from βασιλεύς (basileús, “king, chief”). Compare with rēgia and see also palatium, aula.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /baˈsi.li.ka/, [bäˈs̠ɪlʲɪkä]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /baˈsi.li.ka/, [bäˈs̬iːlikä]

Noun

basilica f (genitive basilicae); first declension

1. basilica
2. church (medieval, Eastern Orthodox)
3. oblong hall with colonnade as a court of law/exchange

Declension

First-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	basilica	basilicae
Genitive	basilicae	basilicārum
Dative	basilicae	basilicīs
Accusative	basilicam	basilicās
Ablative	basilicā	basilicīs
Vocative	basilica	basilicae

Derived terms

• archibasilica
• Quīnque Basilicae

Descendants

• Aromanian: bãsearicã, bisearicã, bãserãche
• Dalmatian: basalca
• French: basoche
• Megleno-Romanian: bisearică
• Romanian: biserică
• Romansch: baselgia
• Venetian: baxéłega

Borrowings:

• → English: basilica
• → Italian: basilica
• → French: basilique
• → Portuguese: basílica
• → Romanian: bazilică
• → Spanish: basílica

References

• “basilica”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “basilica”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• basilica in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• basilica in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette
• “basilica”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898) Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “basilica”, in Samuel Ball Platner (1929), Thomas Ashby, editor, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, London: Oxford University Press
• “basilica”, in William Smith, editor (1848) A Dictionary of Greek Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
• “basilica”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890) A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin