n. Originally, the stoa in which the king-archon dispensed justice in Athens; hence, in Greek antiquity, a frequent distinctive name for a stoa or portico.n. In Rome, where such buildings were introduced about, two centuries before Christ, a portico or hall recalling in plan or use the Athenian royal portico.n. Liturgically, in the Roman Catholic Church, a title conferred by the pope on a church without reference to its architectural arrangement, and carrying with it certain honors and privileges.n. In the middle ages, a name sometimes given to the elaborate structures raised over important tombs, as that over the tomb or shrine of Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey: so called, according to Ducange, because these structures bore a resemblance to diminutive churches.n. A large piece of ordnance: probably same as basilisk, 4.A code of laws of the Byzantine empire, adapted from the laws of Justinian in the ninth century, by order of the emperor Basil I. Also Basilics.