Basil, the King
The name of the culinary herb basil comes from βασιλικόν φυτόν (basilikón phutón) “royal (plant)” in Ancient Greek. The word basileus was very bountiful, produced a lot of descendants. Apart from the plant, we can mention basilica, the catholic temple, which originally was meant to be a court of justice, in Greek (stoa) basilike “royal (portal)”. The Swiss city of Basel and the Italian region of Basilicata are also members of this long list. The city name originated from a toponym villa Basilia “estate of Basilius” and the region was named after the basileus, the Byzantine emperor. Surprisingly the mythical serpent basilisc also comes from Greek basiliskos “little king”. This is because people used to say that basiliscs wore a crown-shaped crest or maybe a mitre. Finally the names Basile, Basilio, Vasyl or Vasilis come from the male Greek name Vassilios. Did we forget any other words?
Parsley, the rocker
