BASILICA

basilica, Roman basilica

(noun) a Roman building used for public administration

basilica

(noun) an early Christian church designed like a Roman basilica; or a Roman Catholic church or cathedral accorded certain privileges; “the church was raised to the rank of basilica”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

Etymology

Noun

basilica (plural basilicas or basilicae)

(architecture) A Christian church building having a nave with a semicircular apse, side aisles, a narthex and a clerestory.

A Roman Catholic church or cathedral with basilican status, a honorific status granted by the pope to recognize its historical, architectural, or sacramental importance.

(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.

Source: Wiktionary

Ba*sil"i*ca, n.; pl. Basilicas; sometimes Basilic. Etym: [L. basilica, Gr. ( sc. , or ) fr. royal, fr. .]

Definition: Originally, the place of a king; but afterward, an apartment provided in the houses of persons of importance, where assemblies were held for dispensing justice; and hence, any large hall used for this purpose.

2. (Arch.) (a) A building used by the Romans as a place of public meeting, with court rooms, etc., attached. (b) A church building of the earlier centuries of Christianity, the plan of which was taken from the basilica of the Romans. The name is still applied to some churches by way of honorary distinction.

Ba*sil"i*ca, n.

Definition: A digest of the laws of Justinian, translated from the original Latin into Greek, by order of Basil I., in the ninth century. P. Cyc.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition