Faith & RitualGreek → English
Basilica
/bəˈsɪlɪkə/noun
A large oblong church, or in Rome a public hall built to that plan.
The Greek roots
βασιλεύς
basileús
king
βασιλική
basilikḗ
royal hall
Literally: “royal building”
The story of the word
In Athens the Stoa Basileios was where the archon holding the king's old title sat in judgement, and βασιλική meant simply 'royal'. Rome took the word for a rectangular public hall used mostly for law and business. Constantine's builders then chose that same shape for the first large Christian churches, so a basilica is a courthouse plan with an altar standing where the magistrate used to.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 16th century
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
basilbasilisk
In a sentence
The basilica keeps its Roman floor plan under four centuries of gilding.