base

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: bās, IPA^(key): /beɪs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• (Ireland) IPA^(key): /beːs/
• Hyphenation: base
• Rhymes: -eɪs
• Homophone: bass

Etymology 1

From Middle English base, bas, baas, from Old French base, from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis). Doublet of basis.

Noun

base (countable and uncountable, plural bases)

1. Something from which other things extend; a foundation.
   1. A supporting, lower or bottom component of a structure or object.
      • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 14, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

        Nanny Broome was looking up at the outer wall. Just under the ceiling there were three lunette windows, heavily barred and blacked out in the normal way by centuries of grime. Their bases were on a level with the pavement outside, a narrow way which was several feet lower than the road behind the house.

2. The starting point of a logical deduction or thought; basis.
3. A permanent structure for housing military personnel and material.
4. The place where decisions for an organization are made; headquarters.
5. (cooking, painting, pharmacy) A basic but essential component or ingredient.
6. A substance used as a mordant in dyeing.
7. (cosmetics) Foundation: a cosmetic cream to make the face appear uniform.
8. (chemistry) Any of a class of generally water-soluble compounds that turn red litmus blue and react with acids to form salts.
9. Important areas in games and sports.
   1. A safe zone in the children's games of tag and hide-and-go-seek.
   3. (baseball) One of the four places that a runner can stand without being subject to being tagged out when the ball is in play.
10. (architecture) The lowermost part of a column, between the shaft and the pedestal or pavement.
11. (biology, biochemistry) A nucleotide's nucleobase in the context of a DNA or RNA biopolymer.
12. (botany) The end of a leaf, petal or similar organ where it is attached to its support.
13. (electronics) The name of the controlling terminal of a bipolar transistor (BJT).
14. (geometry) The lowest side of a triangle or other polygon, or the lowest face of a cone, pyramid or other polyhedron laid flat.
15. (heraldry) The lowest third of a shield (or field), or an ordinary occupying this space, the champagne. (Compare terrace..)
16. (mathematics) A number raised to the power of an exponent.

    The logarithm to base 2 of 8 is 3.

17. (mathematics) Synonym of radix.
18. (topology) The set of sets from which a topology is generated.
19. (topology) A topological space, looked at in relation to one of its covering spaces, fibrations, or bundles.
20. (group theory) A sequence of elements not jointly stabilized by any nontrivial group element.
21. (acrobatics, cheerleading) In hand-to-hand balance, the person who supports the flyer; the person that remains in contact with the ground.
22. (linguistics) A morpheme (or morphemes) that serves as a basic foundation on which affixes can be attached.
23. (music) Dated form of bass.
    • 1709, J[ohn] Dryden, J[ohn] Oldham, “(please specify the page)”, in Mac Flecknoe: A Poem. With Spencer’s Ghost: Being a Satyr Concerning Poetry. , London: H Hills, , →OCLC:

      The trebles squeak for fear, the bases roar.

24. (military, historical) The smallest kind of cannon.
25. (archaic) The housing of a horse.
26. (historical, sometimes in the plural) A kind of skirt (often of velvet or brocade) which hung from the middle to about the knees, or lower.
    • 1842, Joseph Strutt, A Complete View of the Dress and Habits of the People of England, page 246:

      […] with flowers of gold, the body lined with velvet, and the bases, or skirts, with satin; also a frock of black satin, lined with sarcenet, having three welts of the same.

27. (historical, sometimes in the plural) A kind of armour skirt, of mail or plate, imitating the preceding civilian skirt.

    Coordinate terms: tonlet, lamboys

    • 1977, Armours of Henry VIII:

      The base (skirt), as opposed to the practical skirt of the tonlet armour, is an affectation in imitation of the civilian fabric garment of the period and may well have been inspired by a similar feature on Maximilian's gift armour.

    • 2007, AHRC Research Centre for Textile Conservation and Textile Studies. Conference, Textiles and Text: Re-establishing the Links Between Archival and Object-based Research : Postprints, pages 47–49:

      Both knee-length bases are made from black velvet [...] There was a second type of metal skirt that could be worn with armour: the tonlet. [...] Unlike the base, however, the tonlet did not have a textile counterpart. [...]

28. (obsolete) The lower part of a robe or petticoat.
29. (obsolete) An apron.
    • 1613, John Marston, The Insatiate Countess:

      bakers in their linen bases

30. A line in a survey which, being accurately determined in length and position, serves as the origin from which to compute the distances and positions of any points or objects connected with it by a system of triangles.
    • 1834, Mary Somerville, On the Connexion of the Physical Sciences:

      Use the globe he inhabits as a base wherewith to measure the magnitude and distance of the sun and planets.

31. (politics) A group of voters who almost always support a single party's candidates for elected office.

    Synonyms: electoral base, political base

32. (Marxism) The forces and relations of production that produce the necessities and amenities of life.

    Synonym: substructure

    Antonym: superstructure

33. A material that holds paint or other materials together; a binder.
34. (aviation) Short for base leg.
35. (slang, uncountable) freebase cocaine
    • 2019 January 20, Ann Cleeves, Paul Matthew Thompson, 1:26:51 from the start, in Lawrence Gough, director, Vera(Cuckoo) (9), episode 2 (TV series), spoken by Tyler Lennon (Louis Healy):

      TYLER LENNON(played by Louis Healy): Ten grand a week we were clearing: base, white, meth, weed, anything. I can get you anything to get you high.

Synonyms

• (chemical compound that will neutralize an acid): alkali

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of "chemical compound that will neutralize an alkali"): acid
• (antonym(s) of "end of a leaf"): apex

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Translations

See also

Other terms used in arithmetic operations:

Advanced hyperoperations: tetration, pentation, hexation

Verb

base (third-person singular simple present bases, present participle basing, simple past and past participle based)

1. (transitive) To give as its foundation or starting point; to lay the foundation of.
   • 1992, Rudolf M Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the Hundredth Meridian, volume V, New York, N.Y.: Columbia University Press, →ISBN, page vii:

     Firstly, I continue to base most species treatments on personally collected material, rather than on herbarium plants.

2. (transitive) To be located (at a particular place).
3. (acrobatics, cheerleading) To act as a base; to be the person supporting the flyer.
   • 2005, John T. Warren, Laura B. Lengel, Casting Gender: Women and Performance in Intercultural Context, →ISBN, page 73:

     Apart from time taken out during radio- and chemotherapy, Maurs continued to participate in POW. She would base a flyer in a double balance and make the audience laugh with her clowning antics for two more shows.

4. (slang) To freebase.
   • 1984, “8 Million Stories”, in Ego Trip, performed by Kurtis Blow ft. Run-DMC:

     You know he started to base at a hell of a pace / And now it's a disgrace, he's got the pipe in his face

Derived terms

• base on

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English base, bas, from Old French bas, from Late Latin bassus (“low”). Cognate with Spanish bajo, Italian basso and base.

Adjective

base (comparative baser or more base, superlative basest or most base)

1. (obsolete) Low in height; short.
   • 1594, William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece, line 664:

     The cedar stoops not to the base shrub's foot.

2. Low in place or position.
   • c. 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II, act 2, scene 4, lines 19–20:

     I see thy glory like a shooting star / Fall to the base earth from the firmament.

3. (obsolete) Of low value or degree.
   • 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes , London: Val Simmes for Edward Blount , →OCLC:

     If thou livest in paine and sorrow, thy base courage is the cause of it, To die there wanteth but will.

4. (archaic) Of low social standing or rank; vulgar, common.
   • c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. The First Part , 2nd edition, part 1, London: Richard Iones, , published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act III, scene iii:

     UUhat meanes the mightie Turkiſh Emperor
     To talke with one ſo baſe as Tamburlaine?

   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 285, column 2:

     Wherefore should I / Stand in the plague of custome, and permit / The curiosity of Nations, to deprive me? For that I am some twelve, or fourteen Moonshines / Lag of a Brother? Why Bastard? Wherefore base? / When my Dimensions are as well compact, My minde as generous, and my shape as true / As honest madams issue? Why brand they us / With Base? With basenes Bastardie? Base, Base?

   • 1623, Francis Bacon, De Augmentis Scientiarum:

     a peasant and base swain

5. Morally reprehensible, immoral; cowardly.
   • 1551, Ralph Robynson, transl., More's Utopia:

     a cruel act of a base and a cowardish mind

   • 1634 October 9 (first performance), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: , London: [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey Robinson, , published 1637, →OCLC; reprinted as Comus:  (Dodd, Mead & Company’s Facsimile Reprints of Rare Books; Literature Series; no. I), New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1903, →OCLC:

     base ingratitude

   • 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Tragedy in Dartmoor Terrace”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:

     “Mrs. Yule's chagrin and horror at what she called her son's base ingratitude knew no bounds ; at first it was even thought that she would never get over it. […]”

6. (now rare) Inferior; unworthy, of poor quality.
   • 1932, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World‎, London: Chatto & Windus:

     'Like this horrible film.'
     'Horrible?' Lenina was genuinely astonished. 'But I thought it was lovely.'
     'It was base,' he said indignantly, 'it was ignoble.'

7. (of a metal) Not considered precious or noble.
8. Alloyed with inferior metal; debased.

   base coin

   base bullion

9. (obsolete) Of illegitimate birth; bastard.
   • c. 1605–1606, William Shakespeare, King Lear, act 1, scene 2, line 6:

     Why bastard? Wherefore base?

10. Not classical or correct.
    • 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; , London: Iohn Williams , →OCLC:

      base Latin

11. Obsolete form of bass.

    the base tone of a violin

12. (law) Not held by honourable service.

    A base estate is one held by services not honourable, or held by villenage. Such a tenure is called base, or low, and the tenant is a base tenant.

Usage notes

• Said of fellows, motives, occupations, etc.

Synonyms

• (low, short): little, petite, short
• (of position): low-lying, lowland
• (of value): See Thesaurus:insignificant
• (vulgar, common): common, low-born, lowly, plebeian, vulgar
• (immoral): See Thesaurus:despicable or Thesaurus:evil
• (of inferior quality): See Thesaurus:low-quality
• (describing metals):
• (of illegitimate birth): See Thesaurus:illegitimate
• (not classical):
• (not held by honourable service):

Antonyms

• likeable
• desirable
• admirable
• noble

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 3

Probably a specific use of Etymology 1, above; perhaps also a development of the plural of bar.

Noun

base (uncountable)

1. (now chiefly US, historical) The game of prisoners' bars.
   • 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, :

     to run the country base

   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. , London: [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     So ran they all, as they had bene at bace, / They being chased that did others chase.

Etymology 4

Variant forms.

Noun

base

1. Alternative form of BASE

Derived terms

• base jumper
• base jumping

Further reading

• base on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Base in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

References

• “base”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “base”, in The Century Dictionary , New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• Abes, EABs, EBSA, baes, seba

Afrikaans

Noun

base

1. plural of baas

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis).

Noun

base f (plural bases)

1. base

Related terms

• basar
• básicu

Bambara

Noun

base

1. a bush taxi, a common type of public transit

   Synonym: duurunin

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic)
• IPA^(key): (Valencian)

Noun

base f (plural bases)

1. base
2. basis
3. grounding
4. foundation

Derived terms

• base de dades

Related terms

• basar
• basal
• bàsic

Further reading

• “base” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Czech

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

base

1. dative/locative singular of basa
2. vocative/locative singular of bas

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

Noun

base f

1. Obsolete form of báze.

Declension

Danish

Etymology

From French base, from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βᾰ́σῐς (básis). Doublet of basis and also related distantly to komme.

Noun

base c (singular definite basen, plural indefinite baser)

1. (chemistry) base (generally understood to be a Brønsted-Lowry base)
2. (military) base
3. headquarters

Declension

Synonyms

• (headquarters): hovedkvarter

Descendants

• → Icelandic: basi m

Dutch

Dutch Wikipedia has an article on:

Base (scheikunde)

Wikipedia ^nl

Alternative forms

• basis (obsolete in this sense)

Etymology

Borrowed from French base, from Latin basis. Doublet of basis. Also a distant doublet of komst, via Proto-Indo-European *gʷḿ̥tis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaː.zə/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ba‧se
• Rhymes: -aːzə

Noun

base f (plural basen, diminutive basetje n)

1. (chemistry) base (class of compounds), alkali

Synonyms

• loog

Antonyms

• zuur

Derived terms

• basisch
• basenpaar
• basenvolgorde
• Lewisbase

Descendants

• → Indonesian: basa

References

• “base” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie.

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French base, from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baz/, /bɑz/
• (France) IPA^(key): ^help
• (Quebec, formal) IPA^(key):
• (Quebec, informal) IPA^(key):

Noun

base f (plural bases)

1. base (bottom part of something)
2. base (safe place)
3. base, basis (fundamental belief)
4. (chemistry) base

Derived terms

Descendants

• → Czech: báze
• → Danish: base
  • → Icelandic: basi m
• → Norwegian:
  • → Norwegian Bokmål: base
  • → Norwegian Nynorsk: base
• → Romanian: bază
• → Russian: база (baza)
  • → Armenian: բազա (baza)
  • → Azerbaijani:

    Cyrillic script: база

    Latin script: baza

  • → Crimean Tatar:

    Cyrillic script: база

    Latin script: baza

  • → Georgian: ბაზა (baza)
  • → Kazakh:

    Arabic script: بازا (baza)

    Cyrillic script: база (baza)

  • → Mongolian:

    Mongolian script:

    Cyrillic script: бааз (baaz)

  • → Tuvan: бааза (baaza)

Further reading

• “base”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.

Galician

Etymology

From Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis).

Noun

base f (plural bases)

1. base

Related terms

• basear
• básico

Italian

Italian Wikipedia has an article on:

base

Wikipedia ^it

Etymology

From Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈba.ze/
• Rhymes: -aze
• Hyphenation: bà‧se

Noun

base f (plural basi)

1. base, alkaline
2. basis
3. (figurative) mainstay

Antonyms

• sommità, altezza

Related terms

• basare
• basico
• basilare
• di base
• in base a

Latin

Noun

base

1. ablative singular of basis

Middle English

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Old French base, from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βᾰ́σῐς (básis), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷémtis.

Alternative forms

• bace, bas, baas, basse

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaːs(ə)/

Noun

base (plural bases)

1. A foundation or base; the bottom of a building.
2. The foundation, base, or bottom of a column, statue, or vase.
3. (rare) Padding inserted below a horse's bridle.
4. (rare) A hand's palm; the section of a hand below the fingers.
5. (rare) The bottom portion of a dress.
6. (rare, alchemy) The mix of metals used as a base for alchemical operations.

Descendants

• English: base
• Scots: base

References

• “bās(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-03-03.

Etymology 2

Adjective

base

1. Alternative form of bas

Etymology 3

Noun

base

1. Alternative form of bace

Moore

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bà.se/

Verb

base

1. to leave
2. to cancel, stop, cease
3. to abandon, throw away

Northern Sami

Pronunciation

• (Kautokeino) IPA^(key): /ˈpase/

Verb

base

1. inflection of bassit:
   1. present indicative connegative
   2. second-person singular imperative
   3. imperative connegative

Norwegian Bokmål

Norwegian Wikipedia has an article on:

base

Wikipedia ^no

Etymology

From English base, and French base (in chemistry). Ultimately from Latin basis and a doublet of basis.

Noun

base m (definite singular basen, indefinite plural baser, definite plural basene)

1. (chemistry, military, general) a base

Derived terms

References

• “base” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Norwegian Nynorsk Wikipedia has an article on:

base

Wikipedia ⁿⁿ

Etymology

From English base, and French base (in chemistry). Ultimately from Latin basis and a doublet of basis.

Noun

base m (definite singular basen, indefinite plural basar, definite plural basane)

1. (chemistry, military, general) a base

Derived terms

• basisk
• database
• marinebase
• militærbase

References

• “base” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old French

Etymology

From Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis).

Noun

base oblique singular, f (oblique plural bases, nominative singular base, nominative plural bases)

1. base (bottom part; supporting part)

Descendants

• French: base
  • → Czech: báze
  • → Danish: base
    • → Icelandic: basi m
  • → Norwegian:
    • → Norwegian Bokmål: base
    • → Norwegian Nynorsk: base
  • → Romanian: bază
  • → Russian: база (baza)
    • → Armenian: բազա (baza)
    • → Azerbaijani:

      Cyrillic script: база

      Latin script: baza

    • → Crimean Tatar:

      Cyrillic script: база

      Latin script: baza

    • → Georgian: ბაზა (baza)
    • → Kazakh:

      Arabic script: بازا (baza)

      Cyrillic script: база (baza)

    • → Mongolian:

      Mongolian script:

      Cyrillic script: бааз (baaz)

    • → Tuvan: бааза (baaza)
  • ⇒ French: baser
    • → Dutch: baseren
    • → Norwegian:
      • Norwegian Bokmål: basere
      • Norwegian Nynorsk: basere
    • → Romanian: baza
• → Middle English: base, bace, bas, baas, basse
  • English: base
  • Scots: base