Quick Definition
Σεβαστός, ή, όν Adj august, venerated
Strong's Definition
from 4573; venerable (august), i.e. (as noun) a title of the Roman Emperor, or (as adjective) imperial
KJV Usage: Augustus(-')
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament
adjc. | -ή, -όν | σέβομαι
37.76 · Control, Rule · Rule, Govern
imperial (derivative of ὁ Σεβαστός ‘the Emperor,’ 37.75) pertaining to the Emperor The phrase ‘the imperial regiment’ may be rendered as ‘the group of soldiers who protected the Emperor’ or ‘... who were under the direct command of the Emperor.’
UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament © United Bible Societies, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Thayer's Greek Lexicon
σεβαστός, -7, -dv, (σεβάζομαιν; 1. reverend, venerable. 2. ὁ σεβαστός, Lat. augustus, the title of the Roman emperors: Acts xxv. 21, 25, (Strabo, Leian., Hdian., Dio Cass., al.) ; adj. -ds, -7, τόν, Augustan i. e. taking its name fr. the emperor; a title of honor which used to be given to certain legions, or cohorts, or battalions, “for valor” (ala augusta ob virtutem appellata, Corpus inserr. Lat. vii. n. 340, 341, 344) : σπείρα σεβ. the Augustan cohort, Acts xxvii. 1 (λεγεὼν σεβαστή, Ptol. 2,3,30; 2,9,18; 4,3,30). The subject is fully treated by Schiirer in the Zeitschr. fiir wissensch. Theol. for 1875, Ρ. 413 sqq.
Mounce Concise Greek Dictionary
σεβαστός sebastos 3x
pr. venerable, august; ὁ Σεβαστός, i.q. Latin Augustus, Acts 25:21, 25; Augustan, or, Sebastan, named from the city Sebaste, Acts 27:1*
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon
* σεβαστός, -ή, -όν (σεβάζομαι) reverend, august.
In late writers, with reference to the Roman Imperial name;
ὁ Σ., Augustus, i.e. the Roman Emperor: Ac 25:21, 25;
Augustan: σπείρα σ., Ac 27:1 (See further, Deiss., BS, 218.) †
Moulton & Milligan — Vocabulary of the Greek NT
Σεβαστός, the official Greek equivalent of Augustus = ‘* worthy to be reverenced or worshipped.” The title was bestowed on Octavian in B.C. 27, and was continued to his successors, e.g. Nero in Ac 2571.25, Cf. P Oxy IV. 74612 (a.p. 16), where a letter ofrecommendation is dated (ἔτους) y Τιβερίου Καίσαρος Σεβαστοῦ Φαῶφι y, ‘“‘the 3rd year of Tiberius Caesar Augustus, Phaophi 3. In BGU IV. 1074? (a.pD. 275) the Emperor Aurelian announces, τὰ δὲ [ὑ]πὸ το[ῦ] δὲ τ]οῦ Σεβαστοῦ (viz. the Emperor Augustus) δεδ]ομένα ὑμῖν νόμιμα kal φιλάνθίρ]ωπα συντηρῶ. On the ἡμέραι Σεβασταί, held in honour of the Imperial family, see the note by GH ad P Oxy II. 288°, and on the Σεβαστὸν νόμισμα ad id. 2648. Following Usener (Bud. dell’ Inst. di Corrisp. Archeolog., 1874, Ρ. 73 ff.), Lightfoot (Apostolic Fathers, Part II.2 (1889), vol. 1. p. 714) has pointed out that in Asia Minor and Egypt the title σεβαστή was applied to the first day of each month, probably “‘as the monthly commemoration of the birthday of Augustus,” and others would extend this usage to a day of the week, not a day of the month. Deissmaan suggests that the early Christian designation 4 κυριακὴ ἡμέρα may have been intended in part at least as a protest against the Imperial cult: see BS p. 218 f., LAZ* p. 358 ff., and ZA 2816. Note further that F. H. Colson Zhe Week (1926), p. 125f., has shown, on the evidence of the papyri, that the σεβασταὶ ἡμέραι were not confined to any particular day of the week.
Liddell-Scott-Jones — Greek-English Lexicon
σεβαστός (sebastos) — Augustan. σεβαστός, ή, όν, venerable, reverend, august, πρᾶγμα [Refs 1st c.BC+]; θεοί, probably of deified Emperors, [Refs 1st c.AD+]
II. = Latin [NT+1st c.BC+]; ἐπὶ τοῦ πρώτου Σ. in the time of the first [Refs]; feminine Σεβαστή, = [Refs 1st c.AD+]; joined with Αὔγουστος, -ούστη, [Refs]
II.2. name of month, “Augustus”, in Egyptian calendars,= Thoth[Refs]; in Phrygia and elsewhere, [Refs]
II.3. σεβαστή, ἡ (i.e. ἡμέρα), the Emperor's day, the day on which his birthday or accession day was celebrated every month, [Refs 1st c.BC+]
II.4. Σεβαστά, τά,= Σεβαστεῖα [Refs 1st c.AD+]