Ancient Greek

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Etymology

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From βασιλεύς (basileús, king) +‎ -ιᾰ (-ia, feminine ending); see also -εια (-eia). Intervocalic ι (i) developed from a sonorant cluster /wj/, which assimilated to /jj/, then became the second element in the diphthong ει (ei). The formation is thus *βασίλεϝ-ι̯ᾰ (*basílew-i̯a) > *βασίλει̯-ι̯ᾰ (*basílei̯-i̯a) > βασίλειᾰ (basíleia).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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βασίλειᾰ (basíleiaf (genitive βασιλείᾱς); first declension

  1. princess, queen, noble woman

Declension

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Further reading

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Greek

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Noun

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βασίλεια (vasíleian

  1. Nominative, accusative and vocative plural form of βασίλειο (vasíleio).