Base

Pronunciation

• enPR: bās, IPA: /beɪs/
• Rhymes: -eɪs
• Homophones: bass

From Old French base, from Latin basis, from Ancient Greek βάσις.

Full definition of base

Noun

1. Something from which other things extend; a foundation.
1. A supporting, lower or bottom component of a structure or object.
• 1963, Margery Allingham, The China Governess Chapter 14, 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. (chemistry) Any of a class of generally water-soluble compounds, having bitter taste, that turn red litmus blue, and react with acids to form salts.
8. 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 three places that a runner can stand without being subject to being tagged out.
9. (architecture) The lowermost part of a column, between the shaft and the pedestal or pavement.
10. (biology, biochemistry) A nucleotide's nucleobase in the context of a DNA or RNA biopolymer.
11. (botany) The end of a leaf, petal or similar organ where it is attached to its support.
12. (electronics) The name of the controlling terminal of a bipolar transistor (BJT).
13. (geometry) The lowest side of a in a triangle or other polygon, or the lowest face of a cone, pyramid or other polyhedron laid flat.
14. (heraldiccharge) The lowest third of a shield or escutcheon.
15. (mathematics) A number raised to the power of an exponent.The logarithm to base 2 of 8 is 3.
16. (mathematics) Alternative to radix.
17. (topology) The set of sets from which a topology is generated.
18. (topology) A topological space, looked at in relation to one of its covering spaces, fibrations, or bundles.
19. (cheerleading) A cheerleader who stays on the ground.
20. (linguistics) A morpheme (or morphemes) that serves as a basic foundation on which affixes can be attached.
21. (music)
• DrydenThe trebles squeak for fear, the bases roar.
22. (military, historical) The smallest kind of cannon.
23. (heraldry) The lower part of the field. See escutcheon.
24. The housing of a horse.
25. (historical, in the plural) A kind of skirt (often of velvet or brocade, but sometimes of mailed armour) which hung from the middle to about the knees, or lower.
26. (obsolete) The lower part of a robe or petticoat.
27. (obsolete) An apron.
• Marstonbakers in their linen bases
28. 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.

Synonyms

• (chemical compound that will neutralize an acid) alkali

Antonyms

• (chemical compound that will neutralize an acid) acid
• (end of a leaf) apex

Derived terms

Related terms

• basal
• basilar
• embase, imbase

Verb

1. (transitive) To give as its foundation or starting point; to lay the foundation of.
• Schuster Hepaticae V|viiFirstly, 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).

Derived terms

• -based
• base on

From Old French bas, from Late Latin bassus ("low").

Adjective

1. (obsolete) Low in height; short.base shrubs
2. Low in place or position.
3. (obsolete) Of low value or degree.
• 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Essays, II.3: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.
• Francis Bacona pleasant and base swain
5. Morally reprehensible, immoral; cowardly.
• Robynson (More's Utopia)a cruel act of a base and a cowardish mind
• Miltonbase ingratitude
• 1905, w, w:The Case of Miss Elliott Chapter 1, “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.
7. Designating those metals which are not classed as precious or noble.
8. Alloyed with inferior metal; debased.base coin; base bullion
9. (obsolete) Of illegitimate birth; bastard.
• ShakespeareWhy bastard? wherefore base?
10. Not classical or correct.base Latin
11. Obsolete form of bassthe base tone of a violin
12. (legal) 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

• bad, vile, malicious, destructive, reprehensible, knavish, evil

Antonyms

• likeable
• desirable
• admirable
• noble

Derived terms

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

Noun

1. (now chiefly US, historical) The game of prisoners' bars. from 15th c.
• Shakespeareto run the country base
• 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, V.8:So ran they all, as they had bene at bace,
  They being chased that did others chase.

Variant forms.

{{acronym-old|en}}

1. Alternative form of BASE

Derived terms

• base jumper
• base jumping

Anagrams

• Abes
• EBSA