Skip to content

basilica

basilica

noun bah-ZEE-lee-kah Rare

Origin: From Latin basilica, from Greek basilikē (royal hall).

Usage Note

Basilica in Italian designates a large Christian church granted special ceremonial status, as well as the original Roman public hall from which these churches derived their form. The stress falls on the second syllable (bah-ZEE-lee-kah), not the third — a common mispronunciation for English speakers who say 'ba-SIL-i-ca'. The plural is le basiliche.

Examples

"Abbiamo visitato la basilica di San Pietro."

Natural Translation

We visited St Peter's Basilica.

Free starter pack

Building your Italian vocabulary?

Get the 100 most common Italian words as a free PDF — one email, no spam.

Explore Italian by topic