Basilica

(bah-sive-kah.) [Gr. basil ike, a royal mansion.] (Arch.) Originally the palace of a king, and afterwards used to indicate a place where the Roman courts of justice were neld. Its form was a parallelogram, with a portico at each end; being covered with a roof supported by rows of columns. Some of the basilicas wero afterwards used for Christian churches; and many of the latter have, from this circumstance, been termed basilica.-(Anat.) The interior branch of the axillary vein, running the whole length of the arm. [s. 77]