βάσις + λεῖος
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
βασιλεύς
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
basileus
English translation (word)
king
Transliteration (Etymon)
basis + leios
English translation (etymon)
step + smooth
Century
2/4 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Περὶ τῆς ὑπὸ τοῦ πάθους τοῦ σώματος ἐμποδιζομένης ψυχῆς, Section 16
Ed.
A.-J. Festugière and A.D. Nock, Corpus Hermeticum, vol. 2, Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 1946 (repr. 1973): 248-255
Quotation
βασιλεὺς γὰρ διὰ τοῦτο εἴρηται, ἐπειδὴ βάσει λείᾳ καὶ κορυφαιότητι κατεπεμβαίνει
Translation (En)
The king (basileus) gets his name from the fact that he sits on a smooth (leiāi) pedestal (basei) and on the highest place
Parallels
There is no parallel with λεῖος
Modern etymology
Unknown. The word is already attested in Mycenaean (qa-si-re-su), but has no cognate in other IE languages (Beekes, EDG)
Persistence in Modern Greek
MG has βασιλιάς designating: 1. "king", 2. any per. leading a luxurius life / dominating in a field, 3. (masc.) the chess fig., 4. (fem.) the bee leader. "Βασιλεύς" occurs only in phr. "βασιλικότερος του βασιλέως" and "Βασιλεύς των βασιλέων" (= Christ).
Entry By
Le Feuvre
Comment
The etymon is in fact a simple decomposition of the abstract noun corresponding to βασιλεύς, βασιλεία "kingdom, sovereignty", βασι-λεία. As βάσις is feminine, it was easy to interpret -λεία as the feminine of the adjective λεῖος "smooth". The etymology refers to a non essential characteristic of the king, the fact that one of his attributes is a throne, often placed on a platform. The "smooth" feature does not bring anything to the understanding of "king" and is here mainly for paronymic reasons, but could be justified because most of the time the platform is made of polished stone or marble