Word.ws English Dictionary

basileus

UK/ˌbæsɪˈleɪəs/

basileus noun: a title of the Byzantine emperor.

Noun

basileus (plural basilei or basileis)

  1. A title of the Byzantine emperor.
    • For two centuries its towers and domes were to rise in the heavens, drawing the attention of Emperors and Basilei, of Popes and Patriarchs.1978, Славяни, volume 34, page 3
    • Although portrayals of basileis of the eleventh century wearing the loros in the traditional manner are not lacking, I cannot cite a Byzantine example of metropolitan origin later than 1100.1990, Ernst Kitzinger, The Mosaics of St. Mary’s of the Admiral in Palermo, Washington, D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, →ISBN, page 192

Forms of basileus

pluralbasilei
pluralbasileis

Origin of basileus

Borrowed from Ancient Greek βασιλεύς (basileús, “chief, king”).

Questions about basileus

What does basileus mean?
Basileus means a title of the Byzantine emperor.
What part of speech is basileus?
Basileus is a noun.
How do you pronounce basileus?
Basileus is pronounced /ˌbæsɪˈleɪəs/ (UK).
What is the plural of basileus?
The plural of basileus is basilei.

Words near basileus in the dictionary

  1. basilei
  2. basileiolatry
  3. basileis
  4. basilemma
  5. basileolatry
  6. basileus
  7. Basilian
  8. Basilians
  9. basilic
  10. basilic vein
  11. basilic veins

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: basileus (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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