Basileus (pronounced bah-si-LAY-yus) is the New Testament Greek word for king. (Often Latin and Greek words are similar, but not in this case. The Latin is rex, similar to the Hindi raj.) The Greek word for queen is basilissa (bah-SI-liss-a), and basileia (bah-si-LAY-a) means kingdom. Modern derivatives are basilica (originally a place for administering justice, later a Christian church building structure) and Vasily (the Russian/Greek man's name). Basileus appears over 100 times in the New Testament
