βασιλικόν

Ancient Greek

Etymology

The meaning basil appears first attested in Aëtius of Amida and seems calqued from the Middle Persian term continued in contemporary Persian^[1] as (šâhesparam), (šâhesparaġm), from (šâh, “king”) +‎ (esparam, “fragrant herb”), as also Arabic calqued it as رَيْحَان الْمَلِك (rayḥān al-malik) from رَيْحَان (rayḥān, “fragrant herb”) and مَلِك (malik, “king”). See also the synonymous presumed Oriental borrowing ὤκῐμον (ṓkĭmon).

Pronunciation

(5^th BCE Attic) IPA^(key): /ba.si.li.kón/
(1^st CE Egyptian) IPA^(key): /ba.si.liˈkon/
(4^th CE Koine) IPA^(key): /βa.si.liˈkon/
(10^th CE Byzantine) IPA^(key): /va.si.liˈkon/
(15^th CE Constantinopolitan) IPA^(key): /va.si.liˈkon/

Adjective

βᾰσῐλῐκόν • (băsĭlĭkón)

inflection of βᾰσῐλῐκός (băsĭlĭkós):
1. neuter nominative/accusative/vocative singular
2. masculine accusative singular

Noun

βᾰσῐλῐκόν • (băsĭlĭkón) n (genitive βᾰσῐλῐκοῦ); second declension

treasury, royal bank
palace
royal decree
name for various remedies, including: plaster and eyesalve
basil (Ocimum basilicum)

Declension

Second declension of τὸ βᾰσῐλῐκόν; τοῦ βᾰσῐλῐκοῦ (Attic)

Case / #	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	τὸ βᾰσῐλῐκόν tò băsĭlĭkón	τὼ βᾰσῐλῐκώ tṑ băsĭlĭkṓ	τᾰ̀ βᾰσῐλῐκᾰ́ tằ băsĭlĭkắ
Genitive	τοῦ βᾰσῐλῐκοῦ toû băsĭlĭkoû	τοῖν βᾰσῐλῐκοῖν toîn băsĭlĭkoîn	τῶν βᾰσῐλῐκῶν tôn băsĭlĭkôn
Dative	τῷ βᾰσῐλῐκῷ tōî băsĭlĭkōî	τοῖν βᾰσῐλῐκοῖν toîn băsĭlĭkoîn	τοῖς βᾰσῐλῐκοῖς toîs băsĭlĭkoîs
Accusative	τὸ βᾰσῐλῐκόν tò băsĭlĭkón	τὼ βᾰσῐλῐκώ tṑ băsĭlĭkṓ	τᾰ̀ βᾰσῐλῐκᾰ́ tằ băsĭlĭkắ
Vocative	βᾰσῐλῐκόν băsĭlĭkón	βᾰσῐλῐκώ băsĭlĭkṓ	βᾰσῐλῐκᾰ́ băsĭlĭkắ
Notes:	This table gives Attic inflectional endings. For declension in other dialects, see Appendix:Ancient Greek dialectal declension.

Descendants

“basil”

→ Bulgarian: босилек (bosilek)
→ Hungarian: bosziók, busziók
- → Romanian: busuioc
→ Latin: basilicum (see there for further descendants)
→ Macedonian: босилек (bosilek), босилок (bosilok)
- → Albanian: borzilok
→ Russian: базили́к (bazilík)
→ Serbo-Croatian: bòsiljak
→ Sicilian: basilicò
→ Ottoman Turkish: فسلگن (fesleğen)
- Turkish: fesleğen
- → Armenian: ֆեսլիյեն (fesliyen)

→ English: basilicon (“ointment”)

References

^ Moattar, Fariborz (1971) Ismāʻīl Ǧorǧānī und seine Bedeutung für die iranische Heilkunde, insbesondere Pharmazie, unter Berücksichtigung seiner Verdienste für die Gestaltung der neupersischen Sprache (in German), Marburg an der Lahn: Görich & Weiershäuser, page 233

[1] Moattar, Fariborz (1971) Ismāʻīl Ǧorǧānī und seine Bedeutung für die iranische Heilkunde, insbesondere Pharmazie, unter Berücksichtigung seiner Verdienste für die Gestaltung der neupersischen Sprache (in German), Marburg an der Lahn: Görich & Weiershäuser, page 233

[1]