βάσις + λεύσσω
Word
Validation
Yes
Word-form
βασιλεύς
Word-lemma
Transliteration (Word)
basileus
English translation (word)
king
Transliteration (Etymon)
basis + leussō
English translation (etymon)
base + to see
Century
12 AD
Source
Idem
Ref.
Etym Symeonis, vol. 1, p. 402
Ed.
G. Berger, Etymologicum Genuinum et Etymologicum Symeonis (β), 1972
Quotation
βασιλεύς (Ps. 2, 2)· παρὰ τὸ βαίνειν ἵλεως. ἢ παρὰ τὰ κτήματα καὶ (Δ 433) "πολυπάμμονος", <τοῦ πολυκτήμονος,> ἵν’ ᾖ πασιλεύς, καὶ βασιλεύς. ἢ παρὰ τὸ μετὰ ἴλης τὴν βάσιν ποιεῖσθαι, τουτέστι μετὰ πλήθους. ἢ παρὰ τὴν βάσιν καὶ τὸ λεύσσειν, ὁ ἐν τῷ περιιέναι † περιβλέπων
Translation (En)
Basileus "king": from the fact that he walks favourable (bainein hileōs), or from possessions (ktēmata), and in Il. 4.433 πολυπάμμονος "the one who has many possessions", so that it be *pasileus and <then> basileus; or from the fact that he walks with a group, that is, with many people; or from basis "walk" and leussein "to see", the one who is conspicuous when he walks around
Parallels
There are no parallels
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
This etymology is a recombination of elements found in other etymological proposals, πᾶς + λεύσσω where the first element πᾶς is replaced by βάσις, commonly found as the etymology of βασιλεύς. Notice that whereas in the etymology πᾶς + λεύσσω the meaning is active (the king "watches everyone"), here with the same verb the meaning is passive (he is seen while he walks), reflecting the usual insensitivity of Greek etymologists to diathesis