βᾰσῐλ-ισσα G0938
A queen; a woman who reigns or holds royal authority
The feminine noun basílissa designates a woman who holds royal power or sovereignty, whether as reigning monarch or queen consort. In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus invokes the 'Queen of the South' — the Queen of Sheba — who traveled to hear Solomon's wisdom, shaming his unresponsive generation (Matt 12:42; Luke 11:31). In Acts 8:27, the Ethiopian eunuch serves Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. Revelation 18:7 uses it of Babylon's self-exaltation: 'I sit as a queen.' Spanish 'reina,' French 'reine,' and German 'Königin' all preserve the straightforward royal feminine sense.
Senses
1. sense 1 — A female sovereign or royal consort who exercises regal authority. The NT employs the term for historical queens (the Queen of Sheba, Matt 12:42; Luke 11:31; Candace of Ethiopia, Acts 8:27) and metaphorically for Babylon's arrogant self-enthronement (Rev 18:7). Every translation language renders it with the standard feminine royal title — Spanish 'reina,' French 'reine,' German 'Königin' — confirming a single, stable semantic profile. 4×
AR["مَلِكَةً", "مَلِكَةُ", "مَلِكَةِ"]·ben["রাণী", "রানী", "রানীর"]·DE["Koenigin", "βασίλισσα", "βασιλίσσης"]·EN["A-queen", "The-queen", "a-queen", "queen"]·FR["reine"]·heb["מַלְכַּת", "מַלְכָּה"]·HI["रअनेए", "रानी"]·ID["Ratu", "ratu"]·IT["basilissa", "regina"]·jav["ratu", "ratu-putri", "ratunipun"]·KO["여왕-의", "여왕으로", "여왕이"]·PT["rainha"]·RU["Царица", "царицей", "царицы"]·ES["La-reina", "Reina", "reina"]·SW["malkia", "malkia,"]·TR["kraliçe", "kraliçesi", "kraliçesinin"]·urd["ملکہ", "ملکہ-کا"]
Related Senses
H0376 1. man, person, human male (2130×)H0251 1. brother (blood sibling) (573×)H0120 1. man, human being (individual/generic) (527×)H0802 1. woman, female person (519×)H0802 2. wife, spouse (255×)H0517 1. mother, female parent (217×)G0435 1. man, male person (202×)G1135 1. woman, adult female (190×)H2233 1. offspring, descendants (172×)H0001 2. ancestor, forefather (146×)H5288 1. Youth, young man (122×)H0269 1. sister (female sibling) (113×)H1755 1. generation, contemporaries (96×)G5043 1. child, offspring (89×)G0444 2. people, humankind (86×)H3206 1. child, boy, youth (86×)H2145 1. male (human being) (79×)G3384 1. mother (77×)H6485a 1. Qal passive participle: numbered ones, enrollment (76×)H1397 1. man (strong/mighty) (65×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
βᾰσῐλ-ισσα, ἡ, ={βασίλειᾰ}, queen, Refs 5th c.BC+ __2 wife of the ἄρχων βασιλεύς at Athens, Refs 2nd c.AD+:—also βασίλιννα, Refs 4th c.BC+ __3 the Roman Empress, Refs 2nd c.AD+ __4 ={βασιλεύς} VI, PMag.Leid. V.Refs