BASILICA

Basilica

The Latin word basilica, has three distinct applications in modern English. The word was originally used to describe an open, Roman, public court building, usually located adjacent to the forum of a Roman town. By extension it was applied to Christian buildings of the same form and continues to be used in an architectural sense to describe those buildings with a central nave and aisles. Later, the term came to refer specifically to a large and important church that has been given special ceremonial rights by the Pope.

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basilica

Noun

  1. 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.
  3. 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.


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: basilica
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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