noun

• (architecture) A Christian church building having a nave with a semicircular apse, side aisles, a narthex and a clerestory.
• A Roman Catholic church or cathedral with basilican status, an honorific status granted by the pope to recognize its historical, architectural, or sacramental importance.
• (obsolete) An apartment provided in the houses of persons of importance, where assemblies were held for dispensing justice; hence, any large hall used for this purpose.