Bubastis

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Bubastis, from Βούβαστις (Boúbastis), from pr (“house”) + bꜣstt (“Bastet”).

Proper noun

Bubastis

1. (historical) A city of ancient Egypt, noted as a centre of worship of the goddess Bastet.
   • 1891, Édouard Naville, Bubastis (1887-1889), Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., page 4,

     This explanation would apply particularly well to Bubastis, of which we know that it was besieged by the Persians, and that it was conquered in the wars of the time of Phocas.

2. (Egyptian mythology) The goddess Bastet.
   • 1861, Bubastis, entry in W. Smith (editor), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, Volume 1, John Murray, page 515,

     But it seems more natural to suppose here, as in other instances of Egyptian religion, that the worship of Bubastis was originally the worship of the cat itself, which was subsequently refined into a mere symbol of the goddess. The fact that the ancients identify Bubastis with Artemis or Diana is to us a point of great difficulty, since the information we possess respecting the Egyptian goddess presents little or no resemblance between the two divinities.

Translations

city of ancient Egypt

• French: Boubastis f (Greek name), Tell Basta f (Arabian name)
• German: Bubastis (de) n
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: Bubastis f

goddess Bastet

• French: Bastet (fr) f
• German: Bastet f
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Latin: Bubastis f

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Βούβαστις (Boúbastis), from Egyptian pr-bꜣstt (“Bubastis”), from pr (“house”) + bꜣstt (“Bastet”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /buːˈbas.tis/, [buːˈbäs̠t̪ɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /buˈbas.tis/, [buˈbäst̪is]

Proper noun

Būbastis f sg (genitive Būbastis); third declension

1. Bubastis (an ancient city in Egypt)
2. Bastet (Egyptian deity identified with Diana)

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem), with locative, singular only.

	singular
nominative	Būbastis
genitive	Būbastis
dative	Būbastī
accusative	Būbastim
ablative	Būbaste
vocative	Būbastis
locative	Būbastī Būbaste

References

• “Bubastis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Bubastis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.