base

Something from which other things extend; a foundation.

Adjective

  1. Low in height; short.
    • The cedar stoops not to the base shrub's foot. - 1594, William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece, line 664:
  2. Low in place or position.
    • I see thy glory like a shooting star / Fall to the base earth from the firmament. - c. 1595, William Shakespeare, Richard II, act 2, scene 4, lines 19–20:
  3. Of low value or degree.
    • If thou livest in paine and sorrow, thy base courage is the cause of it, To die there wanteth but will. - 1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward...
  4. Of low social standing or rank; vulgar, common.
    • UUhat meanes the mightie Turkiſh Emperor To talke with one ſo baſe as Tamburlaine? - c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […]...
    • 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...
    • a peasant and base swain - 1623, Francis Bacon, De Augmentis Scientiarum:
  5. Morally reprehensible, immoral; cowardly.
    • a cruel act of a base and a cowardish mind - 1551, Ralph Robynson, transl., More's Utopia:
    • base ingratitude - 1634 October 9 (first performance; Gregorian calendar), [John Milton], edited by H[enry] Lawes, A Maske Presented at Ludlow Castle, 1634: […] [Comus], London: […] [Augustine Matthews] for Hvmphrey...
    • “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.[…]” - 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The...
  6. Inferior; unworthy, of poor quality.
    • 'Like this horrible film.' 'Horrible?' Lenina was genuinely astonished. 'But I thought it was lovely.' 'It was base,' he said indignantly, 'it was ignoble.' - 1932, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, London: Chatto &...
  7. Not considered precious or noble.
  8. Alloyed with inferior metal; debased.
    • base coin
    • base bullion
  9. Of illegitimate birth; bastard.
    • Why bastard? Wherefore base? - c. 1605–1606, William Shakespeare, King Lear, act 1, scene 2, line 6:
  10. Not classical or correct.
    • base Latin - 1655, Thomas Fuller, The Church-history of Britain; […], London: […] Iohn Williams […], →OCLC, (please specify |book=I to XI):
  11. Obsolete form of bass.
    • the base tone of a violin
  12. Relating to feudal land tenure held by a tenant from a lord in exchange for services that are seen as unworthy for noblemen to perform, such as villeinage.
    • 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.

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *gʷémtis Proto-Hellenic *gʷə́tis Ancient Greek βάσις (básis)bor.? Ancient Greek βαθύς (bathús)bor.? Oscanbor.? Celticbor.? Late Latin bassus Old French basbor. Middle English bas English base From Middle English base, bas, from Old French bas, from Late Latin bassus (“low”). Cognate with Spanish bajo, Italian basso and base.

Forms

baser more base basest most base

Synonyms

little petite short low-lying lowland insignificant common low-born lowly plebeian vulgar despicable evil low-quality illegitimate

Antonyms

likeable desirable admirable noble

Derived

base-born base-bred base coin base estate base fee baseling basely base metal base-minded baseness base-spirited base tenant base tenure base-witted

Noun Entry 2

  1. Something from which other things extend; a foundation.

    1. A supporting, lower or bottom component of a structure or object.

      • 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...
  2. The starting point of a logical deduction or thought; basis.
  3. A site, structure, or both, usually durable and often permanent, for housing military personnel and materiel.
  4. The place where decisions for an organization are made; headquarters.
  5. A basic but essential component or ingredient.
  6. A substance used as a mordant in dyeing.
  7. Foundation: a cosmetic cream to make the face appear uniform.
  8. 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.

    2. (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. The lowermost part of a column, between the shaft and the pedestal or pavement.
  11. A nucleotide's nucleobase in the context of a DNA or RNA biopolymer.
  12. The end of a leaf, petal or similar organ where it is attached to its support.

Origin

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *gʷémtis Proto-Hellenic *gʷə́tis Ancient Greek βᾰ́σῐς (bắsĭs)bor. Latin basis Old French basebor. Middle English base English base From Middle English base, bas, baas, from Old French base, from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις (básis). Doublet of basis and bass.

Forms

bases

Synonyms

alkali

Antonyms

acid apex

Hyponyms

air base code base codebase debase first base freebase home base knowledge base military base moonbase naval base power base second base subbase surbase third base

Related

successor + = + +... = − = × = × ×... = ÷ = Or sometimes = √ = log(base) =

Derived

abase acid-base acid-base equilibrium acid-base indicator acid-base pair agawan base all your base are belong to us basal base 2 base-2 base address base angle base anhydride base bag baseball base ball base-ball baseband baseboard baseborn base box baseburner base-burner base camp

Noun US, historical

  1. The game of prisoners' bars.
    • to run the country base - 1611 April (first recorded performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Cymbeline”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
    • So ran they all, as they had bene at bace, / They being chased that did others chase. - 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

Origin

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

Noun alt of, alternative

  1. Alternative form of BASE.

Origin

Variant forms.

Derived

base jumper base jumping

Verb

  1. To give as its foundation or starting point; to lay the foundation of.
    • Firstly, I continue to base most species treatments on personally collected material, rather than on herbarium plants. - 1992, Rudolf M[athias] Schuster, The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America: East of the...

    Synonyms: ground

  2. To be located (at a particular place).
    • Troops have been based in Munich since the end of World War II.
    • Top management decided to base our new Spanish subsidiary in Arévalo (Ávila).
    • Take a look at that. This is where we are going to be basing this season. - 2024 February 4, Grian, 23:40 from the start, in Hermitcraft 10: Episode 1 - THE START:
  3. To act as a base; to be the person supporting the flyer.
    • 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. To freebase.
    • 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 - 1984, “8 Million Stories”, in Ego Trip, performed by Kurtis Blow ft. Run-DMC:

Forms

bases basing based

Derived

base off base on rebase