Basilica

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·noun A building used by the Romans as a place of public meeting, with court rooms, ·etc., attached.

II. Basilica ·noun A digest of the laws of Justinian, translated from the original Latin into Greek, by order of Basil I., in the ninth century.

III. Basilica ·noun 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.

IV. Basilica ·noun 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.

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